{ "archive_path": "archive/1789639567.446516", "base_url": "www.twz.com/air/how-the-air-force-patched-up-a-shrapnel-damaged-kc-135", "basename": "how-the-air-force-patched-up-a-shrapnel-damaged-kc-135", "bookmarked_date": "2026-09-17 10:06", "canonical": { "archive_org_path": "https://web.archive.org/web/www.twz.com/air/how-the-air-force-patched-up-a-shrapnel-damaged-kc-135", "dom_path": "output.html", "favicon_path": "favicon.ico", "git_path": "git/", "google_favicon_path": "https://www.google.com/s2/favicons?domain=www.twz.com", "headers_path": "headers.json", "htmltotext_path": "htmltotext.txt", "index_path": "index.html", "media_path": "media/", "mercury_path": "mercury/content.html", "pdf_path": "output.pdf", "readability_path": "readability/content.html", "screenshot_path": "screenshot.png", "singlefile_path": "singlefile.html", "warc_path": "warc/", "wget_path": "www.twz.com/air/how-the-air-force-patched-up-a-shrapnel-damaged-kc-135.html" }, "domain": "www.twz.com", "extension": "", "hash": "19MBKTY0VG0P3Z3YV7XP", "history": { "archive_org": [], "dom": [], "favicon": [ { "cmd": [ "curl", "--silent", "--location", "--compressed", "--max-time", "120", "--output", "favicon.ico", "--user-agent", "Mozilla/5.0 (Macintosh; Intel Mac OS X 10_15_7) AppleWebKit/537.36 (KHTML, like Gecko) Chrome/118.0.0.0 Safari/537.36 ArchiveBox/0.7.4 (+https://github.com/ArchiveBox/ArchiveBox/) curl/curl 8.14.1 (x86_64-pc-linux-gnu)", "https://www.google.com/s2/favicons?domain=www.twz.com" ], "cmd_version": "curl 8.14.1 (x86_64-pc-linux-gnu)", "end_ts": "2026-09-17T13:41:56.338602+00:00", "index_texts": null, "output": "favicon.ico", "pwd": "/data/archive/1789639567.446516", "schema": "ArchiveResult", "start_ts": "2026-09-17T13:41:55.546849+00:00", "status": "succeeded" } ], "git": [], "headers": [ { "cmd": [ "curl", "--silent", "--location", "--compressed", "--head", "--max-time", "120", "--user-agent", "Mozilla/5.0 (Macintosh; Intel Mac OS X 10_15_7) AppleWebKit/537.36 (KHTML, like Gecko) Chrome/118.0.0.0 Safari/537.36 ArchiveBox/0.7.4 (+https://github.com/ArchiveBox/ArchiveBox/) curl/curl 8.14.1 (x86_64-pc-linux-gnu)", "https://www.twz.com/air/how-the-air-force-patched-up-a-shrapnel-damaged-kc-135" ], "cmd_version": "curl 8.14.1 (x86_64-pc-linux-gnu)", "end_ts": "2026-09-17T13:41:56.662887+00:00", "index_texts": null, "output": "headers.json", "pwd": "/data/archive/1789639567.446516", "schema": "ArchiveResult", "start_ts": "2026-09-17T13:41:56.347003+00:00", "status": "succeeded" } ], "htmltotext": [], "media": [], "mercury": [ { "cmd": [ "/app/node_modules/@postlight/parser/cli.js", "https://www.twz.com/air/how-the-air-force-patched-up-a-shrapnel-damaged-kc-135" ], "cmd_version": "1.0.0", "end_ts": "2026-09-17T13:42:48.583288+00:00", "index_texts": null, "output": "mercury", "pwd": "/data/archive/1789639567.446516", "schema": "ArchiveResult", "start_ts": "2026-09-17T13:42:44.901568+00:00", "status": "succeeded" } ], "pdf": [], "readability": [ { "cmd": [ "/app/node_modules/readability-extractor/readability-extractor", "/tmp/tmpsgo_gxrw", "https://www.twz.com/air/how-the-air-force-patched-up-a-shrapnel-damaged-kc-135" ], "cmd_version": "0.0.11", "end_ts": "2026-09-17T13:42:44.886858+00:00", "index_texts": [ "The head of Air Mobility Command (AMC) on Wednesday offered some new details about what went into repairing a KC-135 Stratotanker riddled with shrapnel holes from an Iranian attack. We have previously written about a couple of these jets damaged during Operation Epic Fury (OEF) as they came through RAF Mildenhall in the U.K. on their way back to the U.S. for comprehensive repair work. We are also getting new information of how AMC kept its fleet operating at such a prolonged high-tempo ahead of and during OEF.\n\n\n\nThe discussion about the damaged tanker took place during a panel at the Air & Space Forces\u2019 Air, Space and Cyber Conference that TWZ is attending. The tanker in question was damaged as it was preparing for a mission, explained AMC commander Lt. Gen. Daniel H. Tulley.\n\n\n\nA U.S. Air Force maintainer performs preflight maintenance on a KC-135 Stratotanker refueling aircraft at a base in the Middle East, April 30, 2026. (U.S. Air Force photo by Master Sgt. James Cason) Master Sgt. James Cason\n\n\n\n\u201cA KC-135 ops crew is in the jet,\u201d he said. \u201cKC-135 maintenance team is about to launch this jet. Unexpected Alarm Red [an attack warning]. Everyone jumps in a bunker.\u201d\n\n\n\nAfter the barrage, the airmen emerged from their bunkers and checked out the plane.\n\n\n\n\u201cThat aircraft is smoking,\u201d Tulley said. \u201cThere are holes in it, and it\u2019s a fully loaded KC-135. Two hundred thousand pounds of jet fuel. Took 48 hours for that [fuel] to be drained out of that aircraft. In the meantime, first on the scene was I think the pro super [production superintendent] and the expediter. They immediately began to collect the fuel\u2026 They start to patch the holes. They start to fix all the systems. Long story short, they were eventually able to get that plane to make a transoceanic flight back home to be fully repaired.\u201d\n\n\n\nTulley did not say where the attack took place. However, as we have previously reported, five tankers were reportedly damaged in an Iranian long-range strike on Prince Sultan Air Base (PSAB) in Saudi Arabia on March 14. That was later confirmed in a Department of War Inspector General report released earlier this week.\n\n\n\nYou can see two of the shrapnel-damaged KC-135s as they passed through the UK on the way home in the following photographs shared with us by aviation photographer Andrew McKelvey. We do not know if either of these is the one discussed by Tulley.\n\n\n\n(Andrew McKelvey) \n\n\n\n(Andrew McKelvey)\n\n\n\nLt. Gen. Linda Hurry, Commander of Air Force Materiel Command (AFMC), followed Tulley\u2019s comments with additional details about the repair work.\n\n\n\n\u201cI\u2019ll pick right up on that because it was our aircraft battle damage repair team that was actually able to patch their aircraft back together to get it back to Tinker [Air Force Base in Oklahoma] that can put it completely back where it needed to be,\u201d she noted. Tinker is home to the Expeditionary Depot Maintenance (EDMX), which is \u201cresponsible for maintaining the Air Force\u2019s sole source for Aircraft Battle Damage Repair (ABDR) rapid repair capabilities for the entire tanker and bomber fleets,\u201d according to the Air Force.\n\n\n\n\u201cSo with Operation Epic Fury, we\u2019re asking those questions: What can we sustain for how long? And it begs a question about regeneration,\u201d Tulley further explained. \u201cYou know, our new teammates have regeneration as part of their doctrine, so readiness in contact is the way we\u2019re approaching this. What can we do to improve how we generate capability while under fire, in contact, persistently in an extended or protracted conflict? Lots of great examples of work being done to get after this. General Hurry\u2019s team has brought a lot of capability forward at Mildenhall Air Base.\u201d\u00a0\n\n\n\nOne example of how this has worked has been repairing damaged aerial refueling booms in the U.K. instead of all the way back to the U.S., Tulley highlighted. The booms, which extend from the back of tankers so that receiving aircraft can get their gas, can be damaged by the process, especially during combat refueling.\n\n\n\n\u201cI think we turned 30 booms instead of bringing them all the way back to the states,\u201d Tulley noted.\n\n\n\nA KC-135 refueling boom. (USAF) \n\n\n\nRepairing battle damage is certainly a unique situation for AMC airman, but keeping hundreds of the command\u2019s tankers and cargo aircraft moving at such a high rate prior to and during the war was a huge undertaking that was helped by new maintenance concepts. The Air Force sent maintainers and parts to bases in Europe to drastically speed up major maintenance that would have demanded the aircraft return stateside. \n\n\n\n\u201cWe moved some maintenance actions forward, so they didn\u2019t have to \u2013 the aircraft didn\u2019t have to go all the way back to the states,\u201d Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. Kenneth S. Wilsbach said during his keynote speech earlier this week. \u201cWe put some of them in Europe, so they could get through some normal safety inspections that were either due or deferred. Got those done, and the aircraft doesn\u2019t have to go all the way back to the states. They can go somewhere in Europe, get the thing done, and then get right back to the flight. And so, those measures by Air Mobility Command paid dividends in the readiness of our mobility fleet.\u201d\n\n\n\nAir Force Global Strike Command (AFGSC), which maintains the service\u2019s fleet of strategic bombers and its ICBM force, did something similar at RAF Fairford in the U.K., AFGSC commander Gen. Stephen L. Davis explained.\n\n\n\n\u201cIt\u2019s a complex problem,\u201d said Davis. \u201cI would say in the past we probably didn\u2019t do this the right way. When we thought a conflict was kicking off, the first thing we do is start sending bombers forward, and that actually consumes our readiness. So I think we got it right during OEF.\u201d\n\n\n\n\u201cWe pushed maintainers and support personnel forward to RAF Fairford, and then we actually took the bombers, we loaded them up in CONUS [Continental United States]. We took them to the Middle East. They actually did a mission. They employed, deployed, conducted a combat mission, and then landed at Fairford. And then for the next, well, I guess they\u2019ve been there for now six-plus months.\u201d\n\n\n\n\u201cThey\u2019ve been conducting nearly daily operations out of there,\u201d Davis proffered. \u201cWhen bombers are back at home base, they build readiness. When we deploy it forward, they consume readiness. And then, as [Gen. Hurry] said, we\u2019re getting great support in terms of parts, in terms of supplies, and in terms of forward depot support. So that fleet remains healthy.\u201d\n\n\n\nA U.S. Air Force B-1B Lancer at RAF Fairford, England, July 15, 2025. (U.S. Air Force photo by Tech. Sgt. Robert M. Trujillo) Tech. Sgt. Robert Trujillo\n\n\n\nBeing able to do as much repair and maintenance work as close to the front lines as possible will be hugely important in any future fight against China, and, unfortunately, repairing battle damaged aircraft will be necessary too. Clearly, the Air Force has learned some very important lessons from Epic Fury. \n\n\n\nContact the author: howard@twz.com" ], "output": "readability", "pwd": "/data/archive/1789639567.446516", "schema": "ArchiveResult", "start_ts": "2026-09-17T13:42:42.552462+00:00", "status": "succeeded" } ], "screenshot": [], "singlefile": [], "title": [ { "cmd": [ "curl", "--silent", "--location", "--compressed", "--max-time", "120", "--user-agent", "Mozilla/5.0 (Macintosh; Intel Mac OS X 10_15_7) AppleWebKit/537.36 (KHTML, like Gecko) Chrome/118.0.0.0 Safari/537.36 ArchiveBox/0.7.4 (+https://github.com/ArchiveBox/ArchiveBox/) curl/curl 8.14.1 (x86_64-pc-linux-gnu)", "https://www.twz.com/air/how-the-air-force-patched-up-a-shrapnel-damaged-kc-135" ], "cmd_version": "curl 8.14.1 (x86_64-pc-linux-gnu)", "end_ts": "2026-09-17T13:42:42.544477+00:00", "index_texts": null, "output": "How The Air Force Patched Up A Shrapnel-Damaged KC-135", "pwd": "/data/archive/1789639567.446516", "schema": "ArchiveResult", "start_ts": "2026-09-17T13:42:42.499817+00:00", "status": "succeeded" } ], "wget": [ { "cmd": [ "wget", "--no-verbose", "--adjust-extension", "--convert-links", "--force-directories", "--span-hosts", "--no-parent", "-e", "robots=off", "--reject=js,mjs,woff,woff2,ttf,otf,eot,mp4,m4v,mov,webm,ogv,mkv,avi,flv", "--timeout=120", "--restrict-file-names=windows", "--page-requisites", "--user-agent=Mozilla/5.0 (Macintosh; Intel Mac OS X 10_15_7) AppleWebKit/537.36 (KHTML, like Gecko) Chrome/118.0.0.0 Safari/537.36 ArchiveBox/0.7.4 (+https://github.com/ArchiveBox/ArchiveBox/) wget/GNU Wget 1.21.3", "--compression=auto", "--timestamping", "https://www.twz.com/air/how-the-air-force-patched-up-a-shrapnel-damaged-kc-135" ], "cmd_version": "GNU Wget 1.21.3", "end_ts": "2026-09-17T13:42:42.489168+00:00", "index_texts": null, "output": "www.twz.com/air/how-the-air-force-patched-up-a-shrapnel-damaged-kc-135.html", "pwd": "/data/archive/1789639567.446516", "schema": "ArchiveResult", "start_ts": "2026-09-17T13:41:56.672751+00:00", "status": "succeeded" } ] }, "icons": null, "is_archived": true, "is_static": false, "latest": { "archive_org": null, "dom": null, "favicon": "favicon.ico", "git": null, "media": null, "pdf": null, "screenshot": null, "singlefile": null, "title": "How The Air Force Patched Up A Shrapnel-Damaged KC-135", "warc": null, "wget": "www.twz.com/air/how-the-air-force-patched-up-a-shrapnel-damaged-kc-135.html" }, "link_dir": "/data/archive/1789639567.446516", "newest_archive_date": "2026-09-17T13:42:44.901568+00:00", "num_failures": 0, "num_outputs": 6, "oldest_archive_date": "2026-09-17T13:41:55.546849+00:00", "path": "/air/how-the-air-force-patched-up-a-shrapnel-damaged-kc-135", "schema": "Link", "scheme": "https", "snapshot_id": "d1df521a-b60b-41eb-af0e-0136f1571b07", "sources": [ "/data/sources/1789639567-import.txt" ], "tags": ",war-wiki,pool,escalation", "tags_str": "war-wiki,pool,escalation", "timestamp": "1789639567.446516", "title": "How The Air Force Patched Up A Shrapnel-Damaged KC-135", "updated": "2026-09-17T13:41:55.546706+00:00", "updated_date": "2026-09-17 13:41", "url": "https://www.twz.com/air/how-the-air-force-patched-up-a-shrapnel-damaged-kc-135" }