The Air Force pulled a KC-135 out of storage at the “Boneyard” in early April, three weeks after another one of the service’s Stratotankers crashed in Iraq during Operation Epic Fury.
Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. Kenneth S. Wilsbach mentioned during testimony to the House Armed Service Committee on May 20 that service had recently reactivated a KC-135 from its massive aircraft storage facility at Davis-Monthan Air Force Base, Ariz. A spokesperson confirmed the move occurred in early April, though they did not address whether it was in direct response to the Epic Fury crash.
Instead, the spokesperson said a KC-135 Program Office request prompted the 309th Aerospace Maintenance and Regeneration Group, or AMARG, to regenerate “KC-135R, tail number 58-011, to support operational requirements.”
The aircraft departed the Boneyard on April 2 and flew to the Oklahoma Air Logistics Complex at Tinker Air Force Base, Okla., the spokesperson said.
Weeks earlier, on March 12, a KC-135 crashed in Western Iraq, killing all six Airmen on board, after a midair collision with another KC-135, Air & Space Forces Magazine previously reported.
By law, the Air Force must grow its fleet of refueling aircraft from a minimum of 466 to 478 by Oct. 1, 2027, and eventually 502 by Oct. 1, 2028. The service is in the process of replacing its aging fleet of KC-135s with newer KC-146 Pegasus aircraft while it explores options for a Next Generation Air-refueling System, or NGAS.
In late April, the Air Force said it was on track to meet its 466-aircraft requirement by Sept. 30. Fiscal 2027 budget documents released in early April indicate the service had roughly 370 KC-135s and 105 KC-36s refuelers, though those figures did not address aircraft lost or damaged during Epic Fury, Air Force officials have said.
As part of its 2027 budget, the service has said it is seeking to retire 20 KC-135s; a spokesperson said the service anticipates receiving 20 KC-146s next year as well.
It’s also unclear how long it will take for the KC-135 pulled from the Boneyard to be brought up to operational standards at Tinker. The Air Force recently announced that a B-1B Lancer that was reactivated from the Boneyard in 2024 is finally ready to rejoin the operational fleet. While at Tinker, the Lancer underwent an “intensive regeneration and depot maintenance effort.” More than 200 Airmen and civilians from 567th Aircraft Maintenance Squadron worked on the aircraft, replacing roughly 500 components, including completing “system overhauls and structural repairs.”
During Epic Fury, the intense air campaign against Iran’s nuclear enrichment and military facilities, the Air Force lost roughly 38 other manned and unmanned aircraft in addition to the crashed KC-135.
It remains to be seen how the Air Force plans to replace those losses. The service has lost at least at least four F-15Es and an A-10 that were flying combat missions in the operation. It has lost nearly 30 MQ-9 Reaper unmanned aircraft flying missions against Iran. An E-3 AWACS was severely damaged during a March 27 attack on Prince Sultan Air Base, Saudia Arabia. And two MC-130 Hercules, involved in the dramatic rescue of two F-15 crew members shot down over Iran, had to be destroyed in place to prevent enemy forces from examining the aircraft’s technology.
The service spokesperson said the Air Force has not activated “any additional aircraft” from the Boneyard. There are two C-130s being regenerated at the AMARG, but they are for foreign military sales, the spokesperson added.