US military refueling aircraft stationed at Ben Gurion Airport in Tel Aviv 25 February 2026. [Getty]
An Iranian missile damaged five US refueling aircraft in a recent attack on an airbase in Saudi Arabia, the Wall Street Journal reported on Friday, citing two US officials
The tankers were not fully destroyed and are in the process of being repaired, the officials said. No-one was killed in the strike, they added.
The attack took place at the Prince Sultan air base, which hosts the US military’s largest presence in the kingdom.
At least seven US Air Force tankers have now been destroyed or damaged since US and Israel launched their war against Iran on 28 February.
The news came hours after a refueling plane crashed in Iraq, killing all six crew members on board.
Iran-backed factions in Iraq claimed to have downed the aircraft though the US military denied this.
Another tanker involved in the incident was forced to make an emergency landing in Israel.
The US has lost several fighter jets during the 14-day conflict, including three F-15s that were shot down by Kuwaiti air defences in a friendly fire incident. Around a dozen American drones have also been downed.
American military assets in Saudi Arabia and the Gulf have faced hundreds of missile and drone attacks during the war.
The US government on Sunday ordered non-emergency staff to leave Saudi Arabia after several attacks on its embassy in Riyadh. A drone attack on 2 March damaged the building and caused a fire.
Saudi and American air defences have been forced to intercept missile and drone attacks aimed at the Prince Sultan base on a near daily basis.
It remains unclear how much damage Iran’s attacks have inflicted on the base over the course of the 14-day war.
One US soldier was killed in an attack on the base on 1 March.
