It appears that the world may have lost the last Boeing 747-100 in operational condition following strikes in Iran. Reports suggest that the United States or Israel may have been involved in the destruction of the final KC-747 aerial refueling aircraft operated by the Iranian Air Force during overnight bombing in Tehran.
According to The Times of Israel, Israeli forces destroyed sixteen aircraft during nighttime attacks on Tehran that were reportedly used by the Quds Force of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps. Among them was believed to be the last KC-747 in existence.
OSINT analyst Babak Taghvaee, writing through the account The Crisis Watch, stated that the world had lost its final KC-747 (Boeing 747-131F tanker), reportedly destroyed by the United States Air Force at Mehrabad International Airport. Video footage circulating online appears to show an aircraft on fire, and multiple Boeing 747 aircraft along with other planes may have been damaged or destroyed on the ground during the strikes.
The Boeing KC-747 was a rare Iranian aerial refueling aircraft derived from the cargo variant Boeing 747-131. Delivered in the 1970s, it remained one of the last operational examples of the early Boeing 747-100 series in service worldwide. According to Planespotters.net, the Islamic Republic of Iran Air Force had been the final operator of the 747-100 variant. The specific aircraft (manufacturer serial number 20082) was approximately 55 years old and carried the registration 5-8107.
The aircraft was originally ordered by Eastern Air Lines, although the order was not ultimately taken up. It was subsequently delivered to Trans World Airlines (TWA) in 1971 and later returned to Boeing in 1975. Boeing then converted the aircraft into a tanker configuration for the Imperial Iranian Air Force.
In 2025, Israel carried out a priority strike against an Iranian tanker aircraft at Mashhad International Airport, where either a Boeing KC-707 or a KC-747 was initially believed to have been destroyed. Subsequent satellite imagery confirmed that the aircraft lost in that strike was a KC-707. Reporting by Babak Taghvaee also indicated that another aircraft – a Boeing 747-270C previously operated by Iraqi Airways – sustained significant damage during the same series of attacks. Aerial refueling aircraft play a critical role in long-range air operations and are often considered high-priority targets during military strikes.
As a result, the last Iranian Boeing KC-747 is believed to have been destroyed at Mehrabad International Airport. It remains unclear how many other aircraft are still operational at the airport. Satellite imagery indicates that while the facility continues to function, parts of it have effectively become a storage area for aging aircraft, many of which appear to have been dismantled for spare parts. Decades of international sanctions have significantly constrained Iran’s ability to acquire new aircraft. As a result, the country has often relied on older commercial airframes obtained through intermediary companies and secondary markets to sustain parts of its aviation fleet.
In recent days, the United States Air Force has continued targeting Iranian aircraft on the ground, reportedly expanding strike objectives from combat and drone aircraft to transport platforms as well. According to reporting by The New York Times, satellite imagery of Shahid Dastgheib International Airport, which also hosts an Iranian military installation, shows the destruction of several aircraft. The images indicate the loss of one Ilyushin Il-76 transport aircraft, two Lockheed C-130 Hercules, and two Sukhoi Su-22 fighters (the export version of the Sukhoi Su-17).
New footage released by United States Central Command (CENTCOM) also shows drone strikes on parked Iranian aircraft, reportedly carried out by unmanned systems believed to be LUCAS. CENTCOM states that during the campaign against Iran, a total of 43 vessels of the Iranian navy and more than 3,000 ground targets have been destroyed or damaged. Following an incident in which a United States Navy submarine reportedly sank an Iranian frigate near Sri Lanka, two additional Iranian ships agreed to be interned in Sri Lanka and India, respectively.
Read also:
- Boeing CST-100 Starliner: Mission That Nearly Ended in Disaster
- World’s First Combined Passenger–Cargo Boeing 737 Enters Service
Source: aerospaceglobalnews
