KC-135 Tanker Covered In Shrapnel Patches Seen Landing In UK

A KC-135R was just spotted transiting through RAF Mildenhall in the United Kingdom covered in patches installed over shrapnel damage.

The images come to us from aviation photographer Andrew McKelvey, which show the aircraft dotted with the repairs from nose to tail. It is very likely this is one of the tankers damaged in the Iranian long-range strike on Prince Sultan Air Base in Saudi Arabia last month. The aircraft belongs to the Ohio Air National Guard’s 121st Air Refueling Wing.

While the attack on the base is said to have damaged five tankers, the full destruction inflicted by it and subsequent strikes on Prince Sultan Air Base remains murky, as do potential impacts to facilities and aircraft located across the region. The lack of regular satellite imagery from U.S. providers of the Middle East has made it harder to understand what has occurred, but as we state repeatedly, satellite images would not show more minor damage to aircraft, such as the shrapnel holes seen here.

You can get an idea of how many aircraft the U.S. has lost during Operation Epic Fury from our recent graphic linked here.

Operation Epic Fury U.S. Aircraft Losses Visualized

Here are all the known American aircraft losses during the nearly six week-long war with Iran.https://t.co/5tzH2gks1l