The Air Force aims to release a request for proposals for the KC-135 Recapitalization Program—formerly called the “bridge tanker”—in fiscal 2025 but has yet to set an acquisition strategy for the aircraft, waiting for more industry input, a service spokesperson said. The service isn’t saying ...
A KC-46 tanker at McConnell Air Force Base, Kan., flew without a co-pilot Oct. 25, part of Air Mobility Command's push to study limited aircrew operations. Two flights took place with just a pilot and a boom operator, the 22nd Air Refueling Wing announced in ...
The troubled KC-46 Pegasus tanker faced yet another setback when the Air Force said the new Remote Vision System (RVS) 2.0, which will be used to operate the airplane's refueling boom, will not be available until October 2025. That is a further 19-month delay from ...
The KC-46 boom operators stopped talking and leaned in as Maryland Air National Guard F-16s approached on a refueling mission over upstate New York. The fighters were visible on a 1,080-pixel, black-and-white screen. The cockpit went quiet, too, and the pilot flipped to a visual ...
JOINT BASE MCGUIRE-DIX-LAKEHURST, N.J.—The KC-46 Pegasus tankers here all fly with the callsign "Pudgy" in honor of the second-highest-scoring American ace of World War II, Thomas B. McGuire. "Pudgy 01” and “Pudgy 02” arrived Nov. 9, 2021, as part of an elaborate welcoming ceremony. Pudgies ...
The "Air Force One" replacement will be two to three years late due to pandemic issues, testing, and the loss of a subcontractor on the interior, USAF officials reported at a House Armed Services Committee hearing. They were also warned that some HASC members will ...
A KC-46 Pegasus crewed by Airmen from the 22nd Refueling Wing flew for more than 24 hours, establishing a new Air Mobility Command record and covering more than 9,000 miles. The 24.2-hour, record-breaking flight was intended to gather data on the “feasibility, limitations, potential risks ...
The Air Force probably won’t pursue some exotic approach for the KC-Y and KC-Z tranches of the service's aerial refueling tanker modernization plan, Chief of Staff Gen. Charles Q. Brown Jr. said. The KC-46, “tweaked” with upgrades, can likely do the job for KC-Y, he ...
The arrival of two KC-46 Pegasus refuelers to the 305th and 514th Air Mobility Wings on Nov. 9 proved both joyous and bittersweet for Airmen as the new capability signaled the end of the KC-10 era at the base even amid continued concerns about air ...
Officially launching its bid to supply the Air Force’s KC-Y “bridge” tanker, Lockheed Martin said its solution would offer the service longer range and persistence than current tankers by virtue of the aircraft’s larger size. To sweeten the deal, if Lockheed Martin wins the KC-Y ...
With KC-135s and KC-10s surging forward to help with the ongoing airlift out of Afghanistan, KC-46s are picking up some slack back home with the new tanker's first operational taskings under Air Mobility Command's plan to have the Pegasus start flying limited operations. KC-46s have ...
Air Mobility Command on Aug. 6 announced it is freeing up the KC-46 for more operations, allowing the tanker to refuel C-17s, B-52s, and other KC-46s in some circumstances. The move is the second “interim capability release” for the troubled tanker. AMC last month cleared ...