KC-135 Completes “Historic” 72-Hour Endurance Mission, Fly Over 36,000 Miles

Two U.S. Air Force KC-135 Stratotankers simultaneously conducted 72-hour single-aircraft endurance missions, demonstrating multi-day tanker mission generation capabilities, Oct. 4-7.

The previous record for a KC-135 endurance mission was 40 hours.

For more than 72 hours, the aircraft only landed to refuel, change crews, and service engine oil while keeping at least one engine running. This mission was accomplished with crews from the 92nd Air Refueling Wing, along with mission partners from the 141st ARW, 452nd Air Mobility Wing at March Air Reserve Base, California, and 134th ARW at McGhee Tyson Air National Guard Base, Tennessee, continuously operating two participating KC-135s to demonstrate the fleet’s ability to project unrivaled global reach.

Missions like these are critical to maximizing the Air Force’s capabilities. Joint force lethality in a theater as large as the Indo-Pacific demands a mobility force prepared to execute its mission over large distances and under extended conditions.

The endurance mission covered more than 36,000 miles and included total force operational support from numerous units across the country. During the mission, the two KC-135s refueled B-2 Spirits, B-52 Stratofortresses, an E-3 Sentry, and an E-6B Mercury. Flight crews interchanged seamlessly over the three-day mission. Each jet had two flying crew chiefs for support and utilized hot-pit crews at Fairchild AFB, McGhee Tyson ANG Base and March ARB.

Maintenance technicians executed concurrent engine oil servicing during one of the engine-running crew changes to ensure oil consumption did not limit the amount of time the engines could remain running. This allowed the crews to demonstrate tanker “drop-in” concept with minimum time spent vulnerable on the ground, a strategy that is crucial to survivability in a high-end contested fight.

During the endurance mission, crews were able to apply multiple key Agile Combat Employment capabilities through hot-pit refueling operations, key servicing, and concurrent servicing, reducing downtime, and increasing the Air Force’s ability to demonstrate unrivaled global reach.

“This was the first continuously operating 72-hour endurance mission for the KC-135,” said Col. Chad Cisewski, 92nd Operations Group commander. “Part of the ACE concept is that aircraft will continue forward while spending minimal time on the ground. This mission is one example of airmen utilizing ACE concepts the way they could be employed in the Pacific. I’m extremely proud of both our operations and maintenance team for their tireless work on this.”

As America’s “Super Tanker” wing, Fairchild AFB continues to set new standards for global reach and the enduring tanker force.