AMERICAS

KC-46 PEGASUS TANKER AIRCRAFT ON SCHEDULE

Following a report released in January this year expressing concerns about the KC-46 Pegasus tanker aircraft, the US Air Force is working with the Pentagon’s operational test and evaluation office to dissuade these issues while maintaining the aircraft will keep to its milestones and schedules. One issue raised was that the aircraft did not meet the required standards for electromagnetic pulse testing but this was because not all of the systems were online during the previous round of tests. The test showed that the tanker’s flight-critical and boom-refueling systems could withstand a 6-decibel electromagnetic pulse, but certain systems were uninstalled or deactivated before testing, according to the report.

MQ-9 REAPER TO REPLACE MQ-1PREDATOR

US Air Force has announced that the MQ-1 Predator will be replaced by the MQ-9 Reaper with an air-to-air missile capability. The first steps in the effort has seen the Reaper’s manufacturer General Atomics tasked with developing the Reaper Air-to-Air Missile Aviation Simulation. However, no additional details on this capability has been given. To date, the Reaper has been employed for intelligence, surveillance, reconnaissance and strike missions only. The inclusion of air-to-air combat in its mission set would represent a significant expansion of its capabilities.