A U.S. Air Force KC-135 Stratotanker flies over the U.S. Central Command area of responsibility, July 22, 2025. The Stratotanker is the backbone of U.S. Air Forces Central's global reach aerial ...

The KC-135 Stratotanker plays a quiet but essential role in U.S. air operations. By refueling aircraft mid-air, it allows fighters, bombers, and transports to operate far beyond their normal range.

House and Senate versions of the FY2026 NDAA offer competing visions for the Air Force’s refueling fleet, threatening to disrupt a newly minted modernization strategy. On Oct. 8, 2025, the United ...

Previous deployments of the KC-135 Stratotanker aerial refueler to the Middle East have often come before US military action. The United States Air Force does not disclose the movement of high-profile ...

Brazilian airframer Embraer is developing a plan for local assembly of its marquee KC-390 Millennium tanker-transport as part of a bid to secure a next-generation refueller contract with the US Air ...

If approved, the Air Force vice chief and JAG nominees would fill roles that have been vacant since President Trump fired their predecessors in February.