The first eight of a dozen Vermont Air National Guard F-35As are returning home from their combat deployment in the CENTCOM area of operations.
Split into two flights, the first eight F-35A jets of the Green Mountain Boys of the Vermont Air National Guard 158th Fighter Wing/134th Fighter Squadron, arrived in the UK on their way back to their homebase at Burlington Air National Guard Base, Burlington, Vermont, on Sept. 4, 2026.
Flying as TABOR 81-84 and 91-94, the eight Lightning II aircraft were airframes 17-5280, 18-5336, 18-5360, 18-5340, 18-5338, 18-5339, 18-5341, 18-5343.
The two flights were supported by four KC-135 tankers, CLEAN 35-36 and 45-46, launched from Romania.
#USAF United States Air Force – Coronet East 083
Boeing KC-135 Stratotanker 4x#AE04B2 57-1453 – CLEAN 35#AE0482 60-0337 – CLEAN 45
Unknown – CLEAN 36?
Unknown – CLEAN 46?
+ TABOR 81-8? Flt ?x “??”
+ TABOR 91-9? FLT ?x “??”
CLEAN 35-36/45-46 are supporting Coronet East 083… pic.twitter.com/nPVzgOZtLZ
— Armchair Admiral 🇬🇧 (@ArmchairAdml) September 4, 2026
Twelve Green Mountain Boys F-35s had deployed to the Middle East via Lakenheath and Moron Air Base to support Operation Epic Fury in February 2026. The remaining four jets should arrive in the UK for a stopover during the weekend.
As we noted back then when the aircraft deployed to the CENTCOM area of responsibility, one of the VT F-35s that arrived in the UK on Sept. 4, 2026, identified as 18-5336 thanks to the last four digits of the serial number painted inside the nose‑wheel door, has almost all of its identifying marks obscured, while other aircraft have full tail numbers visible.
The F-35s from Vermont ANG’s 134th Fighter Squadron (FS), which were sent to Puerto Rico before deploying to the Middle East, are currently a specialist suppression of enemy air defences (SEAD) unit.
While the VT F-35s are returning home, other assets are on their way to the sandpit: 12 F-16Cs from 180th FW OH ANG from Toledo Air National Guard Base in Swanton, Ohio, are deploying to the Middle East.
UPDATE: Coronet East 110 Continues towards CENTCOM #IranWar
It appears the jets are on the move once again as 2 cells, with initial tanker support from Lajes:
Cell 1:
KC-46A “GOLD12” 22-46101 #AF4EE7
KC-46A “GOLD13” 21-46086 #AE63C2
F-16C “TABOR11” 88-0257 #AE0257
F-16C… https://t.co/BpLb3IEsMf
— DefenceGeek 🇬🇧 (@DefenceGeek) September 4, 2026
