People gather on the rubble of a house hit by a US airstrike in the city of Sa’ada in western Yemen on March 16, 2025. (Photo by AFP)
An investigative report has revealed that one of Britain’s Royal Air Force (RAF) Voyager aerial refueling tankers provided mid-air refueling support to US warplanes partaking in Washington’s recent deadly escalation against Yemen that claimed the lives of 53 civilians.
Declassified UK, an investigative journalism and media organization, revealed the information on Tuesday in reference to the deadly American airstrikes that targeted Yemen’s entire expanse throughout Saturday and Sunday on the orders of US President Donald Trump.
The British tanker plane executed two sorties from the Akrotiri airbase in Cyprus into the northern Red Sea, supporting the USS Harry S. Truman American aircraft carrier during the escalation that marked the biggest of its kind since Trump took office in January, the report noted.
Flight tracking data has indicated that on March 15, the RAF Voyager departed Akrotiri at 17:49 UTC, reaching the vicinity of the Saudi Arabian port city of Jeddah near the American warships that are deployed off Yemen’s coastline, it said.
According to the report, the tanker, capable of carrying over 100 tons of fuel, remained in the area for more than two hours, aligning with the timing of the initial airstrikes against Yemen, which commenced around 17:15 UTC and continued for over five hours.
A military source also confirmed to the British media organization that the UK had provided routine allied air-to-air refueling support to aid the US aircraft carrier’s confronting Yemen’s retaliatory strikes that came in response to the massacres.
Reports from Yemen's health ministry indicate that the initial night of the airstrikes resulted in at least 27 civilian deaths and 22 injuries across seven provinces.
Besides refueling the US’s warplanes, the UK itself dispatched warplanes of its own to join the American aircraft during the intensified raids.
