[Updated] Iranian attack on Prince Sultan Air Base reportedly hit US KC-135 and E-3 Sentry

Satellite images show signs of an attack on Prince Sultan Air Base, Saudi Arabia, with The Wall Street Journal now reports that an Iranian missile damaged “several American refueling aircraft.”

Satellite images emerged on March 27, 2026, appearing to show signs of damage to a platform used by US aircraft at Prince Sultan Air Base in Saudi Arabia. The images were initially thought to be related to an attack that damaged the KC-135 Stratotankers refueling aircraft two weeks earlier.

However, the European Sentinel-2 satellite, using shortwave infrared (SWIR) imaging, showed a heat signature. in the same place on March 27. The heat signature could possibly have been caused by flames and hot gases in smoke rising from the area.

Satellite images appear to confirm that a US Air Force KC-135 Stratotanker has been destroyed, and several others possibly damaged, as a result of an Iranian attack today, using ballistic missiles and drones, against Prince Sultan Air Base in Saudi Arabia.

Image… pic.twitter.com/o7x32UjUOb

– OSINTdefender (@sentdefender) March 27, 2026

SWIR data from a Sentinel-2 pass today confirms at least one large open fire burning on the platform. pic.twitter.com/kC1DokTHCf

— OSINTtécnico (@Osinttechnical) March 27, 2026

Now, The Wall Street Journalciting US and Saudi officials familiar with the matter, reports that Prince Sultan Air Base was hit by an Iranian missile“damaging several US refueling aircraft.” The unnamed officials also noted the use of drones in the attack.

An Iranian missile and drone attack on Prince Sultan Air Base today damaged several refueling tankers: US and Saudi officials tell WSJ https://t.co/Mcdk0rZYxF pic.twitter.com/EZTLokB0UT

— OSINTtécnico (@Osinttechnical) March 27, 2026

Damage is currently unclear. Although previous satellite photographs showed several tankers stacked in the open on the same platform, the available images are in low resolution and do not allow for visual confirmation of the presence and amount of damage to the aircraft structures.

According to an article published by Air and space forcesAn E-3 Sentry AWACS aircraft was also damaged, although the report could not be verified.

The United States Central Command has not yet commented on the matter. US media reports that between 10 and 12 US service members were injured in the attack.

According to the Wall Street Journal, citing US and Saudi officials with knowledge of the matter, several US service members were injured in an Iranian ballistic missile attack on Prince Sultan Air Base in Saudi Arabia today. The Pentagon has not yet responded with a… pic.twitter.com/Lph9x5KdTZ

– OSINTdefender (@sentdefender) March 27, 2026

Previous attack

At the beginning of the month, The Wall Street JournalCiting U.S. officials, it reported that five U.S. Air Force refueling planes on the ground at Prince Sultan Air Base were damaged in an Iranian missile attack. The publication mentioned at the time that the planes were already being repaired and none were destroyed.

US President Donald Trump disputed the reports, saying that “four of the five suffered virtually no damage,” while “one suffered slightly more damage.” At that time, a statement from CENTCOM was not available.

The type of refueling planes damaged in the Iranian attack was revealed. However, satellite images showed only KC-135s deployed at the base, although we cannot rule out that some KC-46s were also there due to the delay between acquisition and publication of the images.

An Iranian ballistic missile directly hit the Prince Sultan Air Base (PSAB) in Saudi Arabia 🇸🇦🇺🇸.

PSAB is a key US Air Force center hosting E-3 Sentry AWACS, E-11A BACN, tankers and fighter aircraft. pic.twitter.com/cRzGP4rXXn

— Egyptian Intel Observer (@EGYOSINT) March 6, 2026

Prince Sultan Air Base

Prince Sultan Air Base is a forward strategic operating base located in the Saudi interior, approximately 600 km from the Iranian coast. Due to its strategic position, the base regularly hosts US assets, such as tanker aircraft, AWACS (Airborne Warning and Control System) aircraft, and SIGINT (Signals Intelligence) aircraft.

Due to the American presence, the base has been the target of Iranian airstrikes several times recently. The attacks also led to the deaths of US service members deployed there.

Attacks on parked planes

The series of attacks against Saudi Arabia and the Gulf States have already damaged or destroyed several US and allied aircraft. The question is whether the Pentagon underestimated the lessons of the Ukraine war and, in particular, the operation that last year destroyed a significant part of Russia’s strategic aviation. Certainly, the war in Ukraine and the emerging threat posed by various types of drones, including FPV (First Person View), have made the dispersal and protected recovery of the most critical assets a renewed priority for all air arms, marking a return to Cold War doctrine that called for the use of HAS (Hardened Aircraft Shelters) for tactical aircraft dispersed at air bases. Obviously, these shelters are not suitable for large aircraft such as tankers, transport aircraft or strategic bombers, which for this reason must be located out of range of Iranian missiles or drones. In this case, American planners must have assumed that they could still keep the planes parked outdoors, although the previous attacks should have served as an important warning.

This is a developing story, we will update it as soon as new details emerge.