That action in itself has some legitimate technical reasons at least - fighter jets are very envelope pushing and often cannot land safely while carrying a suff

That action in itself has some legitimate technical reasons at least - fighter jets are very envelope pushing and often cannot land safely while carrying a sufficiently full load of fuel. Say the jet can only land safely at 35% or less fuel capacity, is at 50% and needs to reach a target which requires at least 70% capacity to reach, fight, and return. Midair refueling isn't an option for whatever reason and others are logistically committed. Dumping 15% and landing to refuel before launching could make sense. Granted stupid waste without any valid tactical or strategic edge case reasons aren't exactly unheard of in the military either.