Four additional KC-135 Stratotankers, the lynchpins of the U.S. military’s aerial refueling operations, have been assigned to Eielson Air Force Base near Fairbanks, and with them around 220 additional personnel to maintain the aircraft.
News of the decision was announced Wednesday by U.S. Sen. Dan Sullivan, nearly four years after the Air Force first stated its intention to move the planes to Alaska.
There’s still no firm timeline as to when the tankers will be in place.
The aircraft were originally expected to arrive at Eielson in 2023, but that failed to happen. In October, Sullivan sent a stern letter to Secretary of the Air Force Frank Kendall asking for clarity on the matter.
“I am writing to express both my concern and frustration with years of stalling and rejection on the part of the Air Force to deliver vital aerial refueling assets to Alaska and with the state of aerial refueling capacity across the joint force,” Sullivan wrote.
According to Amanda Coyne, Sullivan’s communications director, Kendall relayed the decision reaffirming the military’s decision to bring four additional KC-135s to Alaska this week, though there is not yet a final timeline for when they will arrive and be put into regular use.
“The Guard and Eielson are excited for these new planes to come online,” said Alan Brown, communications director for the Alaska National Guard, which will be in charge of the aircraft. “To be granted these additional aircraft is a validation of their commitment to the mission and how important that mission is in the Arctic and Pacific regions.”
Brown said the Guard in Alaska received an email this week from the deputy director of the Air National Guard that the Air Force had “approved the final decision” on basing the planes in Fairbanks.
Aerial refueling is the military capacity to add fuel to various planes in mid-flight, thereby extending their range. Though Alaska’s fleet of cutting-edge fighter jets has grown in recent years with the arrival of dozens of F-35s, the number of Stratotankers used to gas them up during trainings and intercept missions has remained flat, straining existing planes and personnel.
There are no new Stratotankers. Of the roughly 400 KC-135s still used by the Air Force, most were built in the 1960s and have been steadily maintained and upgraded over the decades, a fixed stock that is shifted between bases and units. A newer model tanker designed to take over the military’s refueling mission, the KC-46 Pegasus, has been racked with problems, cost overruns, and delays that have meant the aging Stratotankers have remained the workhorses of U.S. air power in Alaska and around the globe.
“I have relentlessly pressed the Air Force to fulfill its commitment made to me in 2021 to redistribute four KC-135 tankers to Eielson, and I am glad to report it is finally happening,” Sullivan wrote.
The additional KC-135s will belong to the Alaska Air Guard’s 168th Wing, but be maintained and flown by active duty Air Force personnel. The four extra aircraft brings the total number of Stratotankers used in Alaska to 13.