This is a list of tanker aircraft used for aerial refuelling of another aircraft whilst in powered flight.
See main article: Aerial refueling.
These images illustrate various aerial refuelling methods.
|+ military tanker aircraft used to refuel other aircraft in flight!Tanker
aircraft!based
on!aircraft
propulsion
method!Fuel
supply
method!Operators!Date entered use!Current
status!Qty!Notes|-|Airbus A310 MRTT||Airbus
A310-300C||2x turbofan jet||probe and drogue||Canada / France / Germany||||operational||6||Two for Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF), known in service as CC-150T Polaris|-|Airbus A330 MRTT||Airbus
A330-200||2x turbofan jet||probe and drogue||United Kingdom||||production/ operational||7 KC2
5(+2) KC3||In Royal Air Force (RAF) service, it is exclusively hose-and-drogue, and is known as Voyager KC2 (two under-wing hose and drogue) and Voyager KC3 (two under-wing hose and drogue plus under-fuselage centreline high capacity hose and drogue), with no self-refuelling capability. 14 aircraft have been delivered: seven KC2, five KC3 and two fitted out as KC3.|-|Airbus A330 MRTT||Airbus
A330-200||2x turbofan jet||flying boom||Australia / Saudi Arabia / Spain / United Arab Emirates / Singapore Multinational Multi-Role Tanker Transport Fleet|| ||production/ operational|| 61 ||Versions operated by the Australian (designated KC-30), Emirati, Saudi air forces and the Multinational Multi-Role Tanker Transport Fleet are equipped with both a flying boom and hose and drogue refuelling units. |-|Airbus
A400M
Atlas||Airbus
A400M
Atlas||4x Europrop TP400 turboprop||probe and drogue||Spain / Germany / France ||||operational|| || |-|Airco DH.4||Airco DH.4|| propeller||gravity flow hose||United States||||retired||1||US Army Air Service trials at Rockwell Field, San Diego, California.[1] |-|Avro Lancaster||Avro Lancaster||4x propeller||probe and drogue||United Kingdom||||retired|| ||Purchased and converted by Flight Refuelling Limited (FRL).[2] |-|Avro Lancastrian||Avro Lancaster||4x propeller||probe and drogue||United Kingdom||||retired||4||Purchased and converted by Flight Refuelling Limited (FRL), two Lancastrian tankers were based at Shannon, Ireland; the other two in North America, at Goose Bay, Labrador, and Gander, Newfoundland.[2] |-|Avro Lincoln||Avro Lincoln||4x propeller||probe and drogue||United Kingdom|| ||retired|| ||Purchased and converted by Flight Refuelling Limited (FRL).[2] |-|Avro Vulcan K.2||Avro Vulcan||4x jet||probe and drogue||United Kingdom|| 1982 ||retired|| 6 || Conversions as interim until VC.10 tankers ready.|-|Blackburn
Buccaneer S.2|| Blackburn
Buccaneer
S.2||2x turbofan jet||probe and drogue||United Kingdom|| ||retired|| ||Buddy-buddy refuelling.|-|Boeing
KB-29M||Boeing B-29 Superfortress||4x propeller||probe and drogue||United States||||retired||126||The world's first aerial refuelling units were created; the 43d Air Refueling Squadron at Davis-Monthan AFB, Arizona, and the 509th at Walker AFB, Roswell, New Mexico. Earlier KB-29M versions used a 'grappling hose' system, later models used a true probe and drogue. One KB-29M, redesignated YKB-29T (nicknamed 'Triple Nipple'), was modified to have another two refuelling hoses on its wingtip.[2] |-|Boeing
KB-29P||Boeing B-29 Superfortress||4x propeller||flying boom||United States||||retired||100+||[2] |-|Boeing
KB-50||Boeing B-50 Superfortress||4x propeller||probe and drogue||United States|| ||retired|| ||An improved model of the B-29 Superfortress.|-|Boeing
KB-50||Boeing B-50 Superfortress||4x propeller||flying boom||United States|| ||retired|| ||A B-29 derivative.|-|Boeing KC-97 Stratofreighter||Boeing C-97 Stratofreighter||4x propeller||flying boom||United States / Israel|| ||retired|| ||Based on the B-50, itself another B-29 Superfortress descendant.[2] |-|Boeing
KC-135
Stratotanker||Boeing
367-80
(Dash 80)||4x jet||flying boom||United States / Turkey / France / Chile / Singapore|| ||operational|| ||Boom can be fitted pre-flight with a drogue adapter. AdlA C-135FR/KC-135R Stratotankers use the probe and drogue system and are in the process of being replaced by Airbus A330MRTT 'Phenix'. Singapores KC-135's have been by A330MRTT's and were sold to Meta Aerospace in the USA.|-|Boeing MQ-25 Stingray||Boeing MQ-25 Stingray||turbofan||probe and drogue||United States|| ||in development|| || aerial refueling drone|-|Boeing 707||Boeing 707||4x jet||probe and drogue||Canada / Israel / Spain / Italy / United States|| ||operational|| ||New built and conversions of airliners with multi-point refuelling system pods. Israel allegedly converted ex-airliners with booms from withdrawn KC-97's. Two for RCAF as CC-137 Husky, Spain and Italy have retired their 707 tanker aircraft. Omega Aerial Refueling Services operates two in the United States.|-|Boeing KC-33A||Boeing
747-100||4x jet||flying boom||Iran|| || ||4||KC-33A is a modified Boeing 747 which lost in the USAF bidding competition to the KC-10 Extender. Four sold to the Iranian Air Force, one operational remaining.|-|Boeing 767MMTT||Boeing 767||2x jet||probe and drogue||Colombia|| ||operational|| 1 ||Multi Mission Tanker Transport (MMTT) conversion by IAI for the Fuerza Aérea Colombiana (FAC), a 767-200ER fitted with two ARP3 refuelling pods under the wings, and cargo door.|-|Boeing KC-767||Boeing
767-200ER||2x jet||flying boom||Italy / Japan|| ||operational|| 8 ||With cockpit updates, was (eventually) the winning entry in the USAF KC-X competition.|-|Boeing KC-46 Pegasus||Boeing
767-200ER||2x jet||flying boom||United States|| ||production|| ||USAF designation for Boeing's updated winning KC-767 entry.|-|Boeing F/A-18E/F Super Hornet||Boeing F/A-18E/F Super Hornet||2x jet||probe and drogue||United States|| || || ||Equipped for buddy-buddy refuelling as 'Strike tankers'. Taking over tanking duties after the S-3 was retired from service.|-|Consolidated
B-24 Liberator||Consolidated B-24 Liberator||4x propeller|| ||United States||||retired|| ||Used for flight tests with a B–17E receiver.[2] |-|Dassault-Breguet Super Étendard||Dassault-Breguet Super Étendard||jet||probe and drogue||France|| || || ||Buddy-buddy refuelling.|-|Dassault Rafale||Dassault Rafale||2x jet||probe and drogue||France|| || || ||Buddy-buddy refuelling.|-|de Havilland Sea Vixen||de Havilland Sea Vixen||2x jet||probe and drogue||United Kingdom|| ||retired|| ||Buddy-buddy refuelling.|-|Douglas
KA-3B
Skywarrior||Douglas A-3 Skywarrior||jet||probe and drogue||United States|| ||retired|| ||Dedicated tanker variant of the Skywarrior. Primary US Navy tanker from the Vietnam War until retirement prior to Desert Storm.|-|Douglas A-4 Skyhawk||Douglas A-4 Skyhawk||turbojet||probe and drogue||United States|| ||retired|| ||Buddy-buddy refuelling.|-|Douglas C-1||Douglas C-1||propeller||gravity flow hose||United States||||retired||2||The C-1 was a single-engine transport, 6,445-pound biplane, transformed into tankers by installing two 150-gallon tanks for off-loading, and a refuelling hose that passed through a hatch cut in the floor.[2] [1] |-|Embraer
KC-390||Embraer C-390 Millennium||2x turbofan||probe and drogue||Brazil|| || || ||Cobham air-to-air refuelling system.|-|Grumman
KA-6D
Intruder||Grumman A-6 Intruder||2x jet||probe and drogue||United States|| ||retired|| ||Dedicated tanker variant of the Intruder. Attack variants of the A-6 also capable of buddy-buddy tanking.|-|Handley
Page
HP.54
Harrow||Handley
Page
HP.54
Harrow||2x propeller||looped hose||United Kingdom||||retired||3||Three Harrows were operated by Flight Refuelling Limited, and refuelled Short Empire flying boats on transatlantic services, two from Gander, Newfoundland and one based in Foynes, Ireland.[2] |-|Handley Page
Type W||Handley Page
W.10||2x propeller||looped hose||United Kingdom||||retired||2||Early trials and demonstrations by Flight Refuelling Ltd using a piston engined biplane.[2] |-|Handley
Page
Victor||Handley
Page
Victor||4x jet||probe and drogue||United Kingdom||||retired||30||B(K).1A, K.1, K.1A and K.2 variants in Royal Air Force service, operated by No. 55 Squadron from RAF Marham. A number of Victor tankers saw action during Black Buck raids of the 1982 Falklands War, refuelling the Avro Vulcan bombers multiple times during each bombing run. Fleet retired October 1993.|-|Ilyushin Il-78 Midas||Ilyushin Il-76||4x turbofan||probe and drogue||USSR, India, China|| || || || |-|Lockheed HC-130 Hercules & KC-130 Hercules||Lockheed
C-130
Hercules &<br>C-130J
Super Hercules||4x turboprop||probe and drogue||Canada / Indonesia / United Kingdom / United States|| || || ||Variants: Royal Canadian Air Force modified C-130H, Indonesian Air Force modified KC-130B, Royal Air Force modified C-130K, United States Marine Corps modified C-130F.[1] |-|Lockheed
KS-3B||Lockheed S-3 Viking||2x turbofan||probe and drogue||United States|| ||retired|| ||The former primary US Navy carrier-based tanker, equipped for buddy-buddy tanking.|-|Lockheed
TriStar
K1/KC1||Lockheed
L-1011-500
TriStar||3x turbofan ||probe and drogue||United Kingdom||||retired||6||Two K1 and four KC1 variants operated by No. 216 Squadron Royal Air Force from RAF Brize Norton. Fleet retired 24 March 2014.|-|LTV A-7
Corsair II||LTV A-7
Corsair II||jet||probe and drogue||Greece / United States|| ||retired|| ||Equipped for buddy-buddy tanking in US Navy and Greek Air Force service.|-|McDonnell
Douglas
KC-10
Extender||McDonnell
Douglas
DC-10||3x jet||flying boom||Netherlands / United States|| ||operational|| ||Also has a retractable hose and drogue that can be selected in-flight. Can be fitted with two underwing pods (similar to the KC-135's MPRS) capable of simultaneously refuelling two receiver aircraft (Wing Air Refueling Pods or WARPs). The Royal Netherlands Air Force operates one out of originally two KDC-10s; former civil aircraft modified to a standard similar to the KC-10. The remaining KDC-10 will be withdrawn by the end of 2021. After overhaul, it will follow the other KDC-10 to be operated with Omega Aerial Refueling Services.|-|Mikoyan
MiG-29K||Mikoyan
MiG-29M||jet||probe and drogue||USSR|| || || ||Buddy-buddy refuelling.|-|Myasishchev
M-4-2||Myasishchev
M-4 bomber||4x jet||probe and drogue||USSR|| ||retired|| || |-|Myasishchev
3MS-2||Myasishchev
3M bomber||4x jet||probe and drogue||USSR|| ||retired|| || |-|Panavia
Tornado||Panavia
Tornado||2x turbofan ||probe and drogue|| || ||retired|| ||Buddy-buddy refuelling.|-|Sukhoi
Su-24M||Sukhoi
Su-24||2x jet||probe and drogue||USSR|| || || ||Equipped for buddy-buddy refuelling in the Russian Air Force with the in-flight refuelling pod (– UPAZ)[3] container as 'Strike tankers'.|-|Sukhoi
Su-33||Sukhoi
Su-33||2x jet||probe and drogue||USSR|| || || ||Buddy-buddy refuelling.|-|Supermarine
Scimitar|| Supermarine
Scimitar||jet||probe and drogue||United Kingdom|| ||retired|| ||Buddy-buddy refuelling.|-|Tupolev
Tu-16N||Tupolev
Tu-16 bomber||2x jet||probe and drogue||USSR|| || || || |-|Tupolev
Tu-16Z||Tupolev
Tu-16||2x jet||wing to wing||USSR|| || || || |-|Vickers
Valiant B(K).1, B(PR)K.1 || Vickers
Valiant||4x jet||probe and drogue||United Kingdom|| ||retired|| ||The Valiants had removable tanker system in the bomb bay. Operated by Royal Air Force.|-|Vickers
VC10
C1K, K2, K3, K4]]||Vickers
VC10||4x turbofan ||probe and drogue||United Kingdom|| ||retired||27||C1K (13), K2 (5), K3 (4), and K4 (5) variants served with the Royal Air Force, operated by 10 Squadron, 101 Squadron, and 1312 Flight. Fleet retired 20 September 2013.|-|Xian
H-6U||Xian
H-6||2x jet||probe and drogue|| China|| || || ||People's Liberation Army Air Force (PLAAF) of China.|-|Xian
YU-20||Xian
Y-20||4x jet||probe and drogue|| China|| || || ||People's Liberation Army Air Force (PLAAF) of China.|-|}