F-15 Hot Pit Refueling Operations

Ninth Air Force (AFCENT) members initiatesF-15 hot pit refueling operations on a F-15E Strike Eagle aircraft assigned to the 48th Fighter Wing out of Royal Air Force Base Lakenheath, United Kingdom July 15, 2022. Two U.S. Air Force F-15Es conducted the flight from Souda Bay, Greece to the U.S. Central Command area of responsibility in an effort to exercise cross-combatant command Agile Combat Employment operations. AFCENT members led the hot-pit refueling, an ACE technique which cuts refueling time by hours, allowing AFCENT and incoming partner aircrews to generate multiple consecutive sorties from the same aircraft as well as increase airpower staging options in theater.

Video Credits: Staff Sgt. Charles T. Fultz