French Tanker Refuels US F-22 Raptors Over Alaska in Rare Mid-Air Operation

A French Air and Space Force tanker refuelled United States F-22 Raptor fighter jets over Alaska, only the second time a French A330 MRTT Phénix has performed the operation, the crew said.

The mid-air refuelling preceded a joint air combat exercise between French Rafale fighters and the American F-22s, conducted as part of France's Pégase 26 deployment.

The French tanker first supplied two F-22s using its rigid refuelling boom, then was reconfigured to refuel the Rafales through a different system, with hoses and baskets deployed from pods beneath the wings.

Officer Adrien, the French air refuelling operator who controlled the boom from inside the MRTT, said he had never before refuelled an F-22 and could not train specifically for the aircraft on a simulator.

"It's only the second time we've done this with French MRTTs," he said, adding that the manoeuvre carried some stress because it was his first attempt. He noted that the F-22 does not feature in the simulator's parameters.

Unlike the Rafale, whose pilot guides the fighter's refuelling probe into a basket trailing from the tanker, refuelling an F-22 requires the operator aboard the MRTT to manoeuvre the boom into a receptacle on the fighter.

Adrien said the task demanded small, precise movements to avoid touching the aircraft. "The aim is to make a precise contact and go directly into the receptacle without touching the edges, the doors or even the paint, which is specific on an aircraft like the F-22," he said, referring to the stealth fighter's special coating.

About 3.5 metric tons of fuel were transferred to the American fighters, according to Adrien.

Capt. Julien, a French Rafale pilot since 2023, described flying against the F-22 as a rare opportunity. "It's a lifetime experience," he said. "We do not have the opportunity to fly against this aircraft in France, so I think that it was the chance of my career to perform that flight."

Julien said the flight was split into two mixed patrols, each pairing a Rafale with an F-22, for visual-range combat manoeuvres lasting about 30 minutes. He said the French tanker refuelled the Raptors in boom configuration and then quickly switched to probe-and-drogue configuration to supply the Rafales for the combat mission.

The exercise came a day after four French Rafales arrived at Eielson Air Force Base following an approximately 11-hour flight from Istres in southern France. The aircraft took an Arctic route via Greenland and received five aerial refuellings along the way.

The Alaska stop forms part of Pégase 26, a French exercise aimed at testing the country's ability to rapidly deploy and operate its air forces over long distances alongside allied and partner forces.