Military Operation in North Atlantic, January 2026

Details of various flights relating to the operation by the United States' government and its military forces to seize various oil tankers, especially those in support of the action in the North Atlantic on 7th January 2026 between Scotland and Iceland.

All information was obtained from publicly accessible sources.

Here, flights described as "dark" are those where all the aircraft's radio transmissions that might be used to identify and track the aircraft have been disabled.

The term "ops area" means "area of operations" and refers to the area around the tanker Bella 1 / Marinera.

Items shown in grey are not directly related to the North Atlantic action, but are part of the wider operation in the Caribbean. Under the itinerary, "Rafael Hernández" is an airport at Aguadilla, Puerto Rico.

 

type /
role
serial, ident
mission
active from itinerary notes
C-40C
covert pax
21-0024, GENA17 2026‑01‑01 ? | RAF Fairford Probably transporting command / liaison personnel to brief and organise local units in preparation for the operation. Flights into and out of RAF Fairford were 'dark'
C-40C
covert pax
21-0024, AREA17 2026‑01‑02 RAF Fairford | ?
C-17A
heavy airlift
99-0169, RCH130
AAM6970Z1003
2026‑01‑03 Charleston AFB | Pope AAF | NAS Oceana | RAF Fairford Transporting US Army special forces personnel / equipment to RAF Fairford
C-17A
heavy airlift
09-9210, RCH155
PAM6974Z1003
2026‑01‑03 McChord AFB | Campbell AAF | RAF Fairford | Ramstein AB | Bangor International | Charleston AFB Transporting US Army special forces personnel / equipment to RAF Fairford
C-17A
heavy airlift
07-7175, RCH195
AAM6976Z1003
2026‑01‑03 Dover AFB | Campbell AAF | RAF Fairford | Ramstein AB Transporting US Army special forces personnel / equipment to RAF Fairford
C-17A
heavy airlift
08-8202, RCH199
PAM6977Z1003
2026‑01‑03 McChord AFB | Campbell AAF | RAF Fairford | Ramstein AB Transporting US Army special forces personnel / equipment to RAF Fairford
C-17A
heavy airlift
04-4132, RCH197
AAM6978Z1003
2026‑01‑03 McGuire AFB | Hunter AAF | RAF Fairford | Ramstein AB | McGuire AFB Transporting US Army special forces personnel / equipment to RAF Fairford
C-17A
heavy airlift
01-0191, RCH165
AAM6979Z1003
2026‑01‑03 Dover AFB | Hunter AAF | RAF Fairford | Ramstein AB | Dover AFB Transporting US Army special forces personnel / equipment to RAF Fairford
C-17A
heavy airlift
03-3126, RCH190
AAM6975Z1003
2026‑01‑04 McGuire AFB | Campbell AAF | RAF Fairford | Ramstein AB | McGuire AFB Transporting US Army special forces personnel / equipment to RAF Fairford
C-17A
heavy airlift
02-1111, RCH167
AAM6980Z1003
2026‑01‑04 McChord AFB | Campbell AAF | RAF Fairford | Ramstein AB | Bangor International | McChord AFB Transporting US Army special forces personnel / equipment to RAF Fairford
C-17A
heavy airlift
06-6160, RCH122
PDN031100004
2026‑01‑04 Ramstein AB | RAF Fairford | Ramstein AB Probably transporting USAF command and/or liaison personnel and their equipment.
C-17A
heavy airlift
02-1106, RCH144
PDN051100004
2026‑01‑04 McChord AFB | Fairchild AFB | Dover AFB | RAF Fairford | Charleston AFB Probably transporting USAF command and/or liaison personnel and their equipment.
C-17A
heavy airlift
06-6164, RCH185
PAM6965Z1004
2026‑01‑04 Travis AFB | Cannon AFB | RAF Lakenheath | Charleston AFB Transporting USAF special forces personnel / equipment. Original plan was to fly to RAF Mildenhall, but that base wasn't prepared for the hazardous cargo, so aircraft diverted to RAF Lakenheath
C-17A
heavy airlift
02-1110, RCH140
PAM6964Z1004
2026‑01‑04 McChord AFB | Cannon AFB | RAF Lakenheath | Charleston AFB Transporting USAF special forces personnel / equipment. Original plan was to fly to RAF Mildenhall, but diverted to RAF Lakenheath due to uncleared snow on ground
C-17A
heavy airlift
99-0169, RCH404
AAM6968Z1004
2026‑01‑04 RAF Fairford | Rafael Hernández | Hunter AAF | Charleston AFB Returning US Army special forces personnel / equipment from operations in Caribbean area
C-17A
heavy airlift
07-7186, RCH259
AAM6966Z1005
2026‑01‑04 Charleston AFB | Rafael Hernández | Charleston AFB Returning forces personnel / equipment from operations in Caribbean area
C-17A
heavy airlift
04-4137, RCH458
AAM6967Z1005
2026‑01‑05 Hurlbert Field | ? | Hunter AAF | McGuire AFB Returning US Army special forces personnel / equipment from operations in Caribbean area. Legs from Hurtlbert Field to Hunter AAF were 'dark'
C-17A
heavy airlift
07-7175, RCH258
AAM6969Z1005
2026‑01‑05 Ramstein AB | Rafael Hernández | Hunter AAF | Lawson AAF | Dover AFB Returning US Army special forces personnel / equipment from operations in Caribbean area
RC-135
recon
ZZ664, RRR7206
2026‑01‑06 RAF Waddington | ops area | RAF Waddington RAF aircraft, probably gathering intelligence on signals from Russian naval vessels reported to be in the area around the tanker
C-146
spec ops
10-3068, DADDY11
2026‑01‑06 RAF Mildenhall | RAF Fairford | RAF Lossiemouth | RAF Mildenhall Probably transporting personnel commanding operations or liaising between special forces and other services
C-17A
heavy airlift
08-8202, RCH200
PAM6981Z1005
2026‑01‑06 Ramstein AB | Charleston AFB | Rafael Hernández | Pope AAF Returning US Army special forces personnel / equipment from operations in Caribbean area
C-17A
heavy airlift
09-9210, RCH698
PAM6983Z1006
2026‑01‑06 Charleston AFB | Rafael Hernández | Cannon AFB | McChord AFB Returning USAF special forces personnel / equipment from operations in Caribbean area
CV-22
spec ops
14-0072
2026‑01‑07 RAF Fairford | Benbecula | RAF Fairford Two CV-22B Osprey tilt-rotor transport aircraft deployed to Benbecula for the start of the seizure operation. The majority of the flight outbound from RAF Fairford was dark. It's not known if these aircraft subsequently flew on into the ops area.
CV-22
spec ops
11-0058
2026‑01‑07 RAF Fairford | Benbecula | RAF Fairford
C-146
spec ops
10-3068, DADDY11
2026‑01‑07 RAF Mildenhall | RAF Lossiemouth | RAF Fairford | RAF Mildenhall Probably transporting personnel commanding operations or liaising between special forces and other services
KC-135
air refuel
60-0333, LAGR60
1PJ027U1U007
2026‑01‑07 RAF Mildenhall | ops area | RAF Mildenhall The three KC-135 tanker aircraft operated in sequence through daylight hours. Probably refuelling US Navy P-8A maritime patrol aircraft monitoring and co-ordinating the operation.
KC-135
air refuel
60-0353, LAGR61
1PJ027U2U007
2026‑01‑07 RAF Mildenhall | ops area | RAF Mildenhall
KC-135
air refuel
59-1464, LAGR62
1PJ027U3U007
2026‑01‑07 RAF Mildenhall | ops area | RAF Mildenhall
C-146
spec ops
10-3068, DADDY11
2026‑01‑07 RAF Mildenhall | Benbecula | RAF Mildenhall Probably transporting personnel supporting deployment of CV-22s at Benbecula
C-17A
heavy airlift
03-3125, RCH127
PAM6985Z1006
2026‑01‑07 McGuire AFB | Rafael Hernández | Campbell AAF | McGuire AFB Returning US Army special forces personnel / equipment from operations in Caribbean area
C-17A
heavy airlift
02-1106, RCH697
PAM6982Z1007
2026‑01‑07 Charleston AFB | Rafael Hernández | Palm Beach International | Cannon AFB Returning USAF special forces personnel / equipment from operations in Caribbean area. Original plan was to stop at MacDill AFB, but diverted to Palm Beach due to bad weather
C-17A
heavy airlift
06-6165, RCH305
AAM6984Z1007
2026‑01‑07 Charleston AFB | NS Mayport | Pope AAF | Campbell AAF | Charleston AFB | Dover AFB Returning USAF special forces personnel / equipment from operations in Caribbean area
C-17A
heavy airlift
06-6164, RCH228
PAM6987Z1007
2026‑01‑07 Charleston AFB | Rafael Hernández | Cannon AFB | Travis AFB Returning USAF special forces personnel / equipment from operations in Caribbean area
C-146
spec ops
10-3068, DADDY11
2026‑01‑08 RAF Mildenhall | Benbecula | RAF Mildenhall Probably transporting personnel supporting deployment of CV-22s at Benbecula
C-17A
heavy airlift
08-8202, RCH283
PAM6989Z1008
2026‑01‑08 Pope AAF | Rafael Hernández | Keesler AFB | Hurlbert Field | Charleston AFB Returning USAF special forces personnel / equipment from operations in Caribbean area
C-17A
heavy airlift
98-0056, RCH298
JAM6991Z1008
2026‑01‑08 Elmendorf AFB | Rafael Hernández | Hurlbert Field Returning USAF special forces personnel / equipment from operations in Caribbean area
C-17A
heavy airlift
02-1110, RCH699
PAM6990Z1008
2026‑01‑08 Charleston AFB | Rafael Hernández | Cannon AFB | McChord AFB Returning USAF special forces personnel / equipment from operations in Caribbean area
C-146
spec ops
10-3068, DADDY11
2026‑01‑09 RAF Mildenhall | RAF Fairford | RAF Lossiemouth | RAF Mildenhall Probably transporting personnel commanding operations or liaising between special forces and other services
C-17A
heavy airlift
07-7175, RCH535
AAM6986Z1009
2026‑01‑09 Dover AFB | Rafael Hernández | Campbell AAF | NAS Oceana


Flight data mainly from ADS-B Exchange.

Additional movement info from Fairford Movements and Mildenhall & Lakenheath Movements.

Mission info uses ACARS data from Airframes.