The number of aerial tankers in the US military—ranging from Air Force KC-135s to Marine Corps KC-130s—will peak in Fiscal 2016, according to the Pentagon’s newly issued Aircraft Procurement Plan for 2012-2041. The total tanker inventory will increase from 551 in Fiscal 2012 to 574 in Fiscal 2016, then drop suddenly to a steady-state level of between 535 and 542 aircraft through Fiscal 2021. The numbers reflect the retirement of some of the oldest KC-135s, delivery of USAF’s initial KC-46As, and adjustments to the marines’ inventory. (2011 Aircraft Investment Plan)
While U.S. defense officials have spent much of the past decade warning that China is the nation’s pacing threat and its People’s Liberation Army represents an urgent threat in the Indo-Pacific, several defense researchers are skeptical that the PLA has the human capital, the structural ability, or the political appetite…