By
Theresa Hitchens on May 19, 2021 at 3:41 PM
KC-46 on Boeing factory floor
WASHINGTON: A key House Armed Services Committee member yesterday vowed to use the 2022 defense authorization to address the Air Force’s “embarrassing” contract with Boeing for the troubled KC-46 tanker as the head of Transportation Command suggested Pegasus fielding may face yet more delay.
“In my estimation, the overall procurement of this ‘
commercial’ aircraft, and the penalty built into the contract requiring minimum orders of deficient airplanes, is at best procurement malpractice, or at worst an illegal binding of Congress requiring annual procurements,” Rep. Rob Wittman, ranking member of the HASC seapower and projection forces subcommittee, told a joint hearing with the HASC readiness subcommittee.
Force Multiplier: We Refuel F-35s, Tornado, Typhoons and Another KC-767 During Mission With Italian Air Force Tanker
Force Multiplier: We Refuel F-35s, Tornado, Typhoons and Another KC-767 During Mission With Italian Air Force Tanker
The Italian Air Force KC-767A. (The Aviationist)
We took part in a mission aboard the Italian Air Force KC-767 and had the opportunity to refuel receivers using different both the “flying boom” and “hose and drogue” systems.
The Italian Air Force (Aeronautica Militare) operates a fleet of four Boeing KC-767A Tanker/Transport aircraft. The KC-767s are assigned to the 14° Stormo (Wing) based at Pratica di Mare airbase, near Rome, and flown by the 8° Gruppo (Squadron). The 767s are among the most in-demand assets of the Italian Air Force: while their primary role is AAR (Air-to-Air Refueling), the KC-767A, in both Cargo, Combi and Full Pax configurations, can be used for strategic transport missions as well as MEDEVAC (Medical Evacuation) or B
By Garrett Reim2021-04-13T20:22:00+01:00
Despite receiving orders for dozens more KC-46A Pegasus in-flight refuelling tankers in recent months, Boeing only delivered two of the aircraft in the first quarter of 2021.
The first quarter was the second-slowest KC-46A delivery pace by Boeing since the second quarter of 2020, when only a single jet was delivered, according to delivery data released by the US manufacturer on 13 April.
Source: USAF
A USAF KC-46A Pegasus
Boeing did not respond to questions about why deliveries have slowed to a trickle, but issued a statement.
”We are working to deliver KC-46 aircraft at a pace that meets the needs of the US Air Force,” the company says. “As we, along with our industry, continue to navigate through the pandemic, Boeing is aligned closely with the Air Force to deliver on our commitments.”
The KC-46 tanker’s most infamous problem isn’t the one that impacts pilots the most March 12 Capt. Wesley Cobb, 4th Airlift Squadron pilot, conducts an aerial refueling from a KC-46 from McConnell Air Force Base, Kan., on Feb. 20, 2021. (Senior Airman Mikayla Heineck/U.S. Air Force) WASHINGTON The U.S. Air Force is on its way to ameliorating a technical glitch that has left KC-46 tanker pilots waiting to take off, sometimes for hours, as a key system starts up. The problem revolves around the Boeing-made tanker’s On-Board Inert Gas Generation System, which is used to convert oxygen in the aircraft’s fuel tanks to nitrogen, preventing the aircraft from exploding if the tanks are hit by lightning or enemy fire.
By Garrett Reim2021-02-26T21:24:00+00:00
The US Air Force (USAF) believes that in hindsight the Boeing KC-46A Pegasus in-flight refuelling tanker, which has been plagued with delays, functionality problems and cost overruns, might have had less problems if it was not on a fixed-price contract.
The service initially believed the tanker, which is based on the Boeing 767 airliner, would be relatively easy to develop and thus there would be low risk for delays. However, 10 years after the contract was first issued to Boeing, the USAF says new technology developed for the KC-46A likely needed additional funding support from the US government to reach a higher level of maturity.