Air Force, Boeing agree on delivery for tankers
Boeing Co. and the U.S. Air Force finally have reached some smoother air after going through months of turbulent discussions about when the first KC-46A Pegasus would join the military’s fleet of aircraft.
On Wednesday, Under Secretary of the Air Force Matthew Donovan issued a statement announcing the Air Force expects to receive its first Pegasus in October, with another 17 delivered by April 2019.
“As a result of months of collaboration, the Air Force and Boeing KC-46A teams have reached an agreed joint program schedule,” Donovan stated in an email. “The Air Force is looking forward to KC-46A first delivery and will continue to work with Boeing on opportunities to expedite the program.”
The announcement caps years of delays that have dogged the $44 billion project to deliver 179 tankers to the Air Force.
For Boeing, which has paid about $2 billion in pretax charges against earnings so far because of the delays, the agreement signals it is closer than ever to moving the project into increased production.
As for the Air Force, the agreed-upon timeline gives its commanders more certainty about when new aircraft are coming, enabling them to begin setting up required training and maintenance plans.
What it means for Oklahoma
To Oklahomans, the Pegasus’ design- and performance-related delays have mattered, but getting significant numbers of the tankers into the Air Force fleet always has been the biggest concern.
Pegasus aircrews will train at Altus Air Force Base while the Air Logistics Center at Tinker Air Force Base will take care of the planes at a $400 million maintenance center currently under construction on the base’s south side.
The plane offers the Air Force a platform that has more refueling capacity and enhanced capabilities, improved efficiencies and increased capabilities to handle cargo transports and aeromedical evacuations.
It will be able to refuel Air Force, Navy, Marine Corps and allied nation aircraft without having to reconfigure its fueling equipment on the ground, officials have said.
Boeing built six aircraft for testing. In early May, company officials said it had built an additional four that were being stored as final evaluations are conducted.
Another four were staged at Boeing’s Everett Modification Center at Paine Field in Everett, Washington, undergoing installation of their military components when reporters were brought on site for a project update earlier this year.
Testing and evaluations
Boeing officials said in early May that the test version of the aircraft, which is based off Boeing’s 767-200 extended-range design, had completed 950 flights consisting of nearly 3,000 flight hours, making about 2,600 contacts with other aircraft including the F-16, C-17, KC-135, KC-10, A-10 and F-18.
The Air Force announced earlier this month the aircraft is undergoing additional evaluations at Edwards Air Force Base to certify it can receive fuel from a KC-135, the predominant tanker used by the Air Force to refuel aircraft today.
A squadron commander involved in the testing stated in a release he expected those evaluations to continue through the end of this month.
“As a fully air-refuelable tanker, the KC-46 offers the warfighter increased flexibility. Testing being accomplished at Edwards now will enable that capability,” said Lt. Col. Paul Calhoun, 418th Flight Test Squadron’s commander.
As for Donovan’s timeline announcement on Wednesday, Boeing officials welcomed his statement with one of their own.
“In partnership with the U.S. Air Force, our team has made great progress on the KC-46 tanker,” Boeing spokesman Charles B. “Chick” Ramey wrote in an email.
“With first delivery now set, the men and women of the Air Force know when they will start receiving this warfighting capability,” Ramey wrote.
“The KC-46 is a top priority for The Boeing Company, and we have the best of Boeing working to ensure the U.S. Air Force gets their tankers as quickly as possible.”