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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.
Despite growing pains, KC-46 tanker will begin ‘limited operations’ February 24
A KC-46A Pegasus arrives at McConnell Air Force Base, Kan., on Jan. 31, 2019. This is the fourth KC-46 McConnell received since the initial arrival on Jan. 25, 2019. (Airman 1st Class Alexi Myrick/U.S. Air Force) JOINT BASE ANDREWS, Md. The U.S. Air Force is preparing to offer some new KC-46 tankers for operational use as early as this year, although continued technical issues will keep the aircraft from combat missions. Under the new plan, announced by Air Mobility Command chief Gen. Jacqueline Van Ovost on Feb. 24, the Air Force will commit a certain number of KC-46s to execute operational missions tasked by U.S. Transportation Command, which manages how the U.S. military transports people and equipment around the globe.