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KC-46A Pegasus Aerial Tanker Completes Firsts

Nov 14, 2019 04:58 UTC by Defense Industry Daily staff

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KC-46A concept

November 14/19: Retrofit The US Air Force has reportedly approved a retrofit to prevent cargo locks on an aerial refueling tanker from coming undone midflight. Will Roper, the Air Force’s top acquisition official, told Defense News he’s confident the KC-46A Pegasus aerial refueling tanker’s malfunctioning cargo locks will be fixed within months. In September, after a flight where cargo locks on the bottom of the aircraft’s floor became unlocked midflight, the tanker was restricted from carrying either cargo or people in the back of the aircraft. So far Boeing has paid more than $3.5 billion of its own money to fund corrections to ongoing technical issues, of which the cargo issue is the fourth. The company has also paid to address the tanker’s remote vision system, which provides imagery that in certain lighting conditions looks warped or misleading; instances of the boom scraping against the airframe of the receiver aircraft; and a requirement to redesign the boom to accommodate the A-10 plane.

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KC-135: Old as the hills…
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DID’s FOCUS articles cover major weapons acquisition programs – and no program is more important to the USAF than its aerial tanker fleet renewal. In January 2007, the big question was whether there would be a competition for the USA’s KC-X proposal, covering 175 production aircraft and 4 test platforms. The total cost is now estimated at $52 billion, but America’s aerial tanker fleet demands new planes to replace its KC-135s, whose most recent new delivery was in 1965. Otherwise, unpredictable age or fatigue issues, like the ones that grounded its F-15A-D fighters in 2008, could ground its aerial tankers – and with them, a substantial slice of the USA’s total airpower.

KC-Y and KC-Z buys are supposed to follow in subsequent decades, in order to replace 530 (195 active; ANG 251; Reserve 84) active tankers, as well as the USAF’s 59 heavy KC-10 tankers that were delivered from 1979-1987. Then again, fiscal and demographic realities may mean that the 179 plane KC-X buy is “it” for the USAF. Either way, the KC-X stakes were huge for all concerned.

In the end, it was Team Boeing’s KC-767 NexGen/ KC-46A (767 derivative) vs. EADS North America’s KC-45A (Airbus KC-30/A330-200 derivative), both within the Pentagon and in the halls of Congress. The financial and employment stakes guaranteed a huge political fight no matter which side won. After Airbus won in 2008, that fight ended up sinking and restarting the entire program. Three years later, Boeing won the recompete. Now, they have to deliver their KC-46A.

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Boeing’s KC-46A, and Its Team

KC-46A Industrial Team

KC-X: The Program

The KC-46A Development Phase: Budgets, Splits, & Dates

The KC-46A Production Phase: Risks & Numbers

KC-46A Export Prospects

KC-X: Contracts & Key Developments

FY 2016 – 2019

FY 2015

FY 2014

FY 2013

FY 2012

FY 2011

FY 2010

FY 2009

FY 2008

KC-46A concept
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Boeing’s KC-X 1.0 Team

Concurrence concerns

KC-10 & F/A-18C

Boom assembly

March 14/19: Air Force resumes Deilvery The US Air Force received a KC-46 Pegasus on March 11 after the aircraft passed a Foreign Object Debris inspection at Boeing’s production facility. The Pegasus is a military aerial refueling aircraft developed by Boeing. The Air Force selected the Pegasus to replace the KC-135 Stratotankers. The first Pegasus was scheduled to be delivered in August 2017 but was delayed until January 2019. Deliveries of the jets were halted last month after foreign object debris was found in one of the aircraft. Boeing had offered to inspect all the aircraft that were accepted by the Air Force. Loose tools and other items were found inside a completed airplane. Subsequent deliveries will occur as Boeing successfully completes each aircraft’s inspections and actions assigned from the review. Boeing plans to deliver 36 of the aircraft this year and about a dozen more are nearing completion.