Around 30 KC-135 and KC-46 tankers departed the U.S. headed to Europe, but their final destination is unknown.
In the night between June 15 and 16, 2025, multiple U.S. Air Force KC-135 and KC-46 aerial refueling aircraft departed their bases in the United States headed to Europe. The sudden and unusual movement was quickly noticed on flight tracking websites, when about 30 tankers were first spotted headed towards the Atlantic Ocean and later arriving in Europe.
About 30 US Air Force aircraft, mostly KC-46A Pegasus and KC-135 Stratotankers, that left the US last night are starting to reach Europe. The final destination is unknown. pic.twitter.com/8qUqzh9qBm
— Flightradar24 (@flightradar24) June 16, 2025
Most of these aircraft landed this morning at Ramstein Air Base in Germany and at Morón Air Base and NAS Rota in Spain, while two landed at Aviano Air Base in Italy and at least one landed at Prestwick International Airport in the UK. At the time of writing, some tankers are in flight over the Balkans, headed south, possibly towards Souda Bay in Greece or Incirlik in Turkey.
Good morning.
With the addition of 4 tankers out of New Jersey, there are now at least 32 tankers observed in the overnight group.
A considerable portion went to Morón Air Base in Spain, with others on to UK, Germany, Italy and 1 to Estonia. A few pressed on to CENTCOM AOR. https://t.co/2Dvy31FtWc pic.twitter.com/5fvFE2jb9a
— Evergreen Intel (@vcdgf555) June 16, 2025
The reason of this mass deployment is unclear, however what can be said for sure is that these are repositioning flights and the tankers are not “dragging” fighter jets. If that was the case, the tankers would be flying at lower altitudes and would also be make the usual stops on the U.S. East Coast and at Lajes air base, in the Azores.
Tankers are a critical asset for air power projection and are often deployed in advance or together with fighter jets, bombers or support aircraft. The fact that this massive movement of tanker is happening as Israel conducts is campaign against Iran raises some legitimate questions.
U.S. preparing to intervene?
As we previously reported in our coverage of the events in Israel and Iran, the only U.S. involvement which was acknowledged was the help in the defense during the ballistic missile attacks launched by Iran against Israel. There are also reports about a possible involvement in the defense during the drone attack on June 13.
In the morning of June 14 there were claims by Israeli officials that the U.S. might join the operation against Iran, quoting some U.S. President Donald Trump’s alleged comments before the operation was launched. The White House, however, denied these claims.
New reports emerged later that day mentioned that Israel might have officially requested the U.S. to join the operation. These reports are however not confirmed, although Israeli sources previously mentioned they would need U.S. bunker buster weapons to completely destroy Iranian underground facilities.
There are also reports about Arleigh Burke-class guided missile destroyer USS Thomas Hudner being moved to the area, with a second unnamed destroyer being alerted. The U.S. involvement also includes U.S. Army Patriot PAC-3 surface-to-air missiles and Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) already deployed in the area.
#ICYMI: USS Thomas Hudner (DDG 116) participated in At-Sea Demonstration/Formidable Shield 2025, the largest at-sea live-fire exercise in the European theater.#Readiness #USNavy #NATO #AlliesandPartners pic.twitter.com/NWxKHYLXX7
— U.S. Navy (@USNavy) June 7, 2025
The USS Nimitz aircraft carrier also appears to be headed to the Middle East, after it was spotted on ship tracking website Marine Traffic leaving the South China Sea on heading west. The carrier was scheduled to make a port call in Danang City on Jun. 20, but this was cancelled due to “an emergent operational requirement.”
NEW: US aircraft carrier USS Nimitz sails for the Middle East
Source: Channel 12 pic.twitter.com/IWVmLJpkb2
— Clash Report (@clashreport) June 15, 2025
So far, there are no reports about a possible direct intervention of the U.S. in the strike campaign. It might be possible the U.S. could decide to move to the area more assets, such as fighter jets, as deterrent against attacks on its bases in the Middle East.
In fact, U.S. President Donald Trump warned Iran against attacks against U.S. forces. “If we are attacked in any way, shape, or form by Iran, the full strength and might of the U.S. Armed Forces will come down on you at levels never seen before,” said the President.
However, some comments made by Trump hint at a possible future involvement, although it is unclear under which conditions. “We’re not involved in it. It’s possible we could get involved. But we are not at this moment involved,” said Trump.
Update
U.S. officials told Reuters, speaking on condition of anonymity, that the large number of refueling aircraft deployed to Europe is meant “to provide options to President Donald Trump as Middle East tensions erupt into conflict between Iran and Israel.” It is unclear if the tankers moved ahead of a possible arrival of combat aircraft to the region in the next few days as part of the options being readied for the President or if they are being forward deployed in order to shorten the build-up time for a larger deployment of combat air power.
Also, the officials confirmed that the USS Nimitz aircraft carrier is sailing to the Middle East. While it was initially scheduled to replace the USS Carl Vinson later this year, the arrival of the USS Nimitz in the area ahead of schedule means that two carrier strike groups will now be in the Middle East at the same time.
