More than six years after the Air Force identified the first serious deficiency on the KC-46 tanker, six such “Category 1” deficiencies remain, an Air Force official told reporters last week. One, however, was downgraded in April, said Col. Leigh Ottati, chief of the KC-46 ...
Boeing has resumed deliveries of KC-46 tankers after a prolonged halt due to quality problems with fuel tanks, company president and chief executive officer David Calhoun said July 26 during a second quarter earnings call. Yet company officials said supply chain problems continue to afflict ...
Air Force flight testing for the T-7A Red Hawk kicked off June 28, with a USAF pilot flying the advanced trainer from contractor Boeing’s St. Louis, Mo., facilities. The event, announced by Boeing, marks the first official test flight conducted by an Air Force pilot ...
As near-peer adversaries have increased their reach and lethality, the U.S. Air Force is accelerating the tanker fleet recapitalization and aggressively pulling forward the Next Generation Aerial Refueling System (NGAS) to meet the threat. Globally operating the KC-46A has advanced mission...
When the Air Force sets a new program baseline for the B-52 re-engining this fall, there will be “some” cost increase, because the project wasn't previously fully funded, and the Air Force has a better handle on actual supplier costs and knowledge from ground testing, ...
The Government Accountability Office says there are likely more delays ahead for the T-7A trainer, and the Air Force should build a realistic plan for testing and fielding the jet that takes into account the concurrency of design, test, and production.
Within a brand-new, gleaming-white facility called the “high bay” at the Oklahoma City Air Logistics Complex, a battered and rusty-looking fuselage and left wing of a B-52H has become a laboratory for the government-industry team that will revamp the aged Stratofortress fleet for the next ...
The Air Force kicked off the process for selecting the contractor for its Next Generation Air Dominance fighter on May 18, releasing a classified solicitation to industry for Engineering and Manufacturing Development. In a release, the service said it hopes to award a contract by 2024.
Rolls-Royce is in the last few months of testing its F130-200 engines before a critical design review of the powerplants, which will equip the re-engined and upgraded B-52J, a company official said. “We’re about one-third through” engine runs with F130-200 Nos. 1 and 2, F130 ...
Initial Operational Capability for the T-7A trainer has been pushed back from its original target of 2024 to 2027, Air Force acquisition executive Andrew Hunter reported. The setback stems from ejection seat issues that delayed the formal start of production. Hunter said the digital methods ...
The Boeing T-7 Red Hawk advanced trainer won't be ready for a low-rate initial production decision until February 2025—six and a half years after Boeing won the initial contract in 2018. The new date for the "Milestone C" initial production decision is as much as ...
Formal developmental flight testing of the Boeing T-7A Red Hawk will likely get underway this summer, as recent ejection seat tests appear to have been resolved, company and USAF sources said. The developmental testing will support a Milestone C low-rate initial production decision in the ...