USAF CORONET mission in progress

In the past few hours, there has been significant tanker activity along the U.S. East Coast. Around twenty tankers—mainly a mix of Boeing KC-46A Pegasus and Boeing KC-135R Stratotanker aircraft—have been involved in a major CORONET operation.

CORONET missions are large-scale aerial refueling and ferry operations, typically used to deploy U.S. Air Force fighter jets overseas. These missions involve coordinated tanker support to enable long-distance transits for combat aircraft.

Part of this tanker fleet is currently en route to Europe, providing aerial refueling support to several USAF Lockheed Martin F-22 Raptors (callsign: TABOR).

#KC135 #AE025D #GOLD11 out of Pittsburgh will pick up (four) "FF" #F22 #TABOR61 out of Langley (bound for Lakenheath). KC135 #AE013E #GOLD12 (round trip Pease) will join and #KC46 #AE63D1 #GOLD13 (Pease – Mildenhall) will take'm across the pond pic.twitter.com/tdt0mATrAA

— Sir Listenalot (@SirListenalot) June 18, 2025

While such missions are relatively routine and not necessarily indicative of immediate geopolitical escalation, it’s difficult not to link this activity to the broader context of U.S. military posture in the Middle East amid ongoing tensions between Israel and Iran.