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 ...
The next phase of the Air Force’s long-term tanker recapitalization program may have some Lockheed Martin Skunk Works flavor, and the advanced development unit is looking ahead to the stealthy KC-Z competition and a potential lighter-than-air transport, Skunk Works Vice President and General Manager Jeff ...
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 ...
After six straight quarterly losses, Boeing reported profits of $755 million in the second quarter of 2021, a year after posting a $3.32 billion loss. Company officials reported no new loss on the KC-46 tanker, on which the company has lost $5 billion so far. ...
For decades, Air Force gray-tailed aircraft have displayed their home base and heritage with a small graphic on the plane’s tail, but that tradition will come to an end for much of the Air Force’s next-generation tanker fleet. Air Mobility Command has ended the policy ...
The Air National Guard will get the next two tranches of KC-46 Pegasus tankers, at locations to be decided within the next 12 months, Deputy Chief of Staff for Plans and Programs Lt. Gen. David S. Nahom told the Senate Appropriations Committee on July 21. ...
The Air Force on July 19 released a request for information to the defense industry for the proposed “bridge tanker” to follow the KC-46, with a list of questions emphasizing how the future refueler will continue the service’s push for improved command and control on ...
FAIRCHILD AIR FORCE BASE, Wash.—For a barometer of the military’s unrelenting thirst for aerial refueling, look to the sprawling flight line here in the Inland Northwest. Fairchild is the home of the Air Force’s only “super” tanker wing, with four KC-135 squadrons. The fourth, the ...
Air Mobility Command on July 9 officially opened up the KC-46 to some limited operations, clearing the Pegasus to use its centerline drogue. The move is an official green light to conduct activities the Pegasus has been doing for months—using its secondary refueling system to ...
A KC-10 Extender took off into the dark and rainy New Jersey sky on June 30 to link up with F-22s flying over the Atlantic Ocean. Marking the end of an era for the 2nd Airlift Squadron—the Air Force’s second-oldest squadron—it was the last time ...
The Air Force has set its shopping list for the first round of Advanced Battle Management System capability acquisition and is defining the requirements for future capabilities it wants to develop and buy as this new approach to command and control progresses. At the same ...
The Air Force and Boeing are addressing two additional Category 1 deficiencies in the KC-46 in addition to the four remaining Category 1 problems involving the aircraft’s refueling system. The previously unannounced issues are with the aircraft's receptacle drain line tubes and Flight Management System, ...