Air Force orders 15 more KC-46A Pegasus tankers under $2.3 billion contract

The U.S. Air Force has awarded Boeing a $2.3 billion contract for the ninth production lot of 15 KC-46A Pegasus tanker aircraft, expanding its fleet of multi-mission aerial refuelers. To date, 128 KC-46A Pegasus tankers are on contract with the U.S. Air Force, with 68 delivered and operationally deployed worldwide.

The KC-46A Pegasus delivers fuel to airborne aircraft and can transport cargo, personnel, and aeromedical missions. Last year, the U.S. Air Force Air Mobility Command approved the KC-46A for global operations including combat deployment.

The Pegasus continues to demonstrate its agile combat employment capabilities, recently completing a 42-hour endurance flight supporting a U.S. Air Force Bomber Task Force mission in the Indo-Pacific region.

During 2022, KC-46A aircraft operated in a series of U.S. Air Force global employment exercises in the European theater, Indo-Pacific region, and the Middle East.

Boeing builds KC-46A aircraft on the 767 production line in Everett, Wash., supported by a supplier network of about 37,000 workers employed by more than 650 businesses throughout more than 40 U.S. states.

Boeing is on contract for 138 KC-46A Pegasus tankers globally. Boeing has delivered two of six KC-46A tankers to the Japan Air Self-Defense Force and is on contract for four KC-46A tankers for the Israel Air Force. The expanding global fleet creates commonality and interoperability efficiencies and mission-readiness advantages for the U.S. Air Force and its allies.

First fully capable KC-46 tanker aircraft delayed

Under the Air Force's KC-46 modernization program, commercial aircraft are being converted by The Boeing Company into aerial refueling tankers. The program is one of the Air Force's highest acquisition priorities, and will replace a third of the aging fleet.

“We found that the program, now in its seventh year, is meeting its estimated acquisition cost. However, the program office projects that Boeing will not deliver the first 18 fully capable aircraft until May 2019—21 months later than initially planned,” the Government Accountability Office (GAO) said in a recent report. Boeing won the competition to develop the KC-46 aircraft in February 2011.

The total acquisition cost estimate for the KC-46 refueling tanker aircraft remained stable over the last year at $44.4 billion. This is about $7.3 billion, or about 14 percent, less than the original estimate of $51.7 billion, the GAO said.

Boeing faces the following risks and challenges and is trying to address them:

• updating test aircraft to the correct configuration to complete remaining tests;

• completing flight tests at a pace that is almost double its monthly average;

• updating test plans to reflect a more realistic schedule for certifying aircraft, such as F-16 fighters and C-17 cargo planes, to be refueled by a KC-46;

• retrofitting production aircraft to their final configuration for delivery; and

• fixing a critical deficiency to keep the boom from contacting receiver aircraft outside the refueling receptacle.

The program plans to eventually field 179 KC-46 aircraft in total. These aircraft are intended to replace roughly one-third of the Air Force’s aging aerial refueling tanker fleet, comprised mostly of KC135 Stratotankers.

Boeing performs first test flight for KC-46 tanker program

The Boeing Company and U.S. Air Force successfully completed the first flight of the KC-46 tanker test program Sunday. The plane, a Boeing 767-2C, took off from Paine Field, Wash., at 12:29 p.m. (EST) and landed three hours and 32 minutes later at Boeing Field. The aircraft will receive its military systems following certification.

As part of a contract awarded in 2011 to design and develop the Air Force’s next-generation tanker aircraft, Boeing is building four test aircraft – two 767-2Cs and two KC-46A Tankers. The 767-2Cs enter flight test as commercial freighters prior to receiving their aerial refueling systems, while the KC-46s will fly as fully equipped tankers through the Federal Aviation Administration and military certification process.

Boeing is on contract to deliver the first 18 of 179 KC-46 aircraft to the Air Force by 2017.

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Air Force meets with industry to discuss KC-46 maintenance contract

The Air Force Life Cycle Management Center is hosting a series of Industry Day meetings this month to provide potential prime contractors with greater insight into program requirements and to foster competition in the acquisition of the KC-46 Maintenance Training System. A notice announcing the meeting was released Friday.

The KC-46 is a new widebody multi-role tanker for the Air Force.

The Industry Day meetings will be conducted at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio, Jan. 27-31.

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Forward fuselage section rolled out for new KC-46A tanker

Spirit AeroSystems, Inc. celebrated completion of the first forward fuselage section, Section 41, for the new Boeing KC-46A tanker. Boeing and U.S. Air Force representatives joined Spirit leadership and employees to mark the occasion on Friday.

"Right now we the fly KC-135R models and they are great and give gas all over the world. We need to recapitalize the fleet,” Maj. Gen. John Thompson said on Friday. Thompson is the U.S. Air Force Program Executive Officer for Tankers. “We need something better and newer. The KC-46A is the answer. You all are part of the program and on the team. The stability of the program is fantastic. I am counting on you to deliver these planes on time and with high quality so our warfighters can safely, efficiently and effectively do their job to protect our freedom.”

Meanwhile, Spirit announced Thursday they plan to layoff approximately 360 employees, “a strategic move to make the company more competitive in a cost-sensitive environment.”

In June 2011, Spirit was announced as a supplier on the KC-46 program. The company is responsible for the forward fuselage section, strut and nacelle components, and the fixed leading edge for the KC-46A tanker. Spirit manufactures the Section 41 and strut and nacelle components at its Wichita, Kan. facility. Production of the KC-46A is integrated directly into the Boeing 767 commercial production line at Boeing's Everett facility.

Boeing has announced it will build 179 next-generation aerial refueling tanker aircraft that will begin to recapitalize the Air Force's fleet of 416 KC-135 tankers. Based on the proven Boeing 767 commercial airplane, the KC-46 tanker is a widebody, multi-mission aircraft updated with the latest and most advanced technology to meet the demanding mission requirements of the future.

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First KC-46A tanker aircraft taking shape at Boeing

Boeing workers in Everett, Wash. on Wednesday loaded a wing spar for the first U.S. Air Force KC-46A aerial refueling tanker, starting production of that aircraft and achieving another milestone toward delivering 179 tankers during the next 14 years.

The KC-46A is based on Boeing's commercial 767-200ER, a proven airframe in service as an airliner, freighter and tanker. Boeing has delivered more than 1,050 767s worldwide.

The spar, the main structural component of the wing, is 82 feet 5 inches long. On the aircraft, it provides critical support for flight loads and the weight of the wings when the plane is not flying.

The program’s next major contractual milestone, the Air Force’s Critical Design Review, starts next month.

Boeing employees are also preparing the 767 production line for assembly of the next-generation tanker’s aft and forward body structures. The aircraft will be assembled in November and roll out of the factory in January.

Next June, Boeing will begin installation of military-unique systems on the aircraft at Boeing Field in Seattle as well as testing. First flight for the fully provisioned tanker is scheduled for early 2015, with first delivery in 2016.

Boeing expects to build and deliver the first 18 KC-46As by 2017 and a total of 179 by 2027 if all options under the contract are exercised.

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