Mystery as 12 U.S. air tankers carrying ominous weight charge across the Atlantic

A fleet of 12 U.S. air tankers was spotted crossing the Atlantic Ocean, with the reason yet to be determined, according to military sources.

Flight trackers noticed the fleet of nearly a dozen KC-135R/T Stratotankers traveling on Sunday night, with several en route to RAF Mildenhall, a major Air Force base in England, reports open-source intelligence (OSINT) on X.

As U.S. Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth and U.S. President Donald Trump gear up for a massive, secret military meeting drawing U.S. generals and admirals from all corners of the globe, the reasons for the tanker's approach remain unclear. The meeting, which has been kept under wraps by both the president and Hegseth, will be in Quantico, Virginia, on Tuesday.

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The mobilization of air tankers can indicate that the U.S. or NATO is addressing an urgent military requirement for fighter jet refueling capacity.

Behnam Taleblu, senior director of the Iran program at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, recalled to the Daily Mail the last time the U.S. had a mass tanker deployment.

"Soon after that, something went boom in the Middle East. Critically, in Operation Midnight Hammer, the Trump administration executed a decoy or deception effort to mask the flight of the B-2 bombers to Iran," Taleblu said to the news outlet. He emphasized that Trump is the only U.S. President in two decades to deploy military force against Iranian nuclear facilities."Big military movements on his watch are something to keep an eye on," Taleblu added.

Earlier this year, the U.S. conducted military strikes targeting three Iranian nuclear facilities: Fordow, Natanz, and Isfahan.

The operation involved 7 B2 Spirit stealth bombers carrying GBU57 Massive Ordnance Penetrators (MOPs), along with a supporting strike of Tomahawk cruise missiles launched from a submarine.

Over 125 U.S. aircraft participated in the broader strike package (including support, refueling, decoy, reconnaissance, and escort elements).

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Other possible explanations could be the U.S. responding to Russian aerial and drone probes in the Baltic Sea, particularly against Denmark, a former State Department diplomacy consultant told the Daily Mail.

A few days ago, the Nordic nation closed multiple airports following disruptions by drones that Danish officials call a "hybrid attack." They speculate that Moscow is behind the drones' disruption of the country's airspace, as reported by CNN.

The ongoing U.S. military movements may also be linked to Exercise Cobra Warrior 25-2, a large-scale Nato training event running from September 12 to October 2 over the North Sea.

This biannual operation could explain the visible surge in aerial activity as allied forces train for integrated military operations.