Boeing KC-46

Boeing KC-46 Pegasus
KC-46A, prototype
Type:	Tanker aircraft
Design country:	United States
Manufacturer:	Boeing
First flight:	December 28, 2014
Commissioning:	January 25, 2019
Production time:	since 2018
Number of pieces:	7 (as of December 2017)

The Boeing KC-46 Pegasus is a tanker for the US Air Force that is currently being delivered , which is based on the Boeing 767-2C and is intended to replace the outdated KC-135 aircraft .

Development history

First plans

The origins of the KC-46 can be traced back to the time after the end of the Cold War. In the 1990s, considerations began to take shape to replace the US Air Force's aging KC-135 fleet . In a 1996 study, the US Federal Court of Auditors recommended pushing ahead with the renewal, as operating and maintenance costs would rise and the technical problems of the aircraft, which are now around 35 years old, would increase in the near future. According to its own study from 2001 (KC-135 Economic Service Life Study), the US Air Force saw no reason to rush, because the structural life expectancy of 36,000 flight hours for the KC-135E and 39,000 for the KC-135R is still ins The year 2040 was enough and therefore wanted to wait until 2012 to procure new tankers.

KC-767

US Air Force KC-135 tanker to be replaced

When Boeing offered the USAF a modified B767-200ER as a tanker in 2001 , the Air Force turned around. The plan was to lease 100 KC-767s for a period of six years for around 25 billion US dollars  - with a purchase option after the end of the leasing period, the redemption of which would have increased the total cost to around 30 billion dollars. The first four machines were to be delivered from 2006, the last 20 from 2011. They should have gradually replaced 133 of the oldest KC-135E models.

This unusual business model, the possibly high costs and the change of opinion of the Air Force were the subject of several hearings in the US Congress and the Senate . As a compromise, for the 2004 budget year, Congress approved leasing 20 and buying a maximum of 80 KC-767s. This never happened, among other things because Krediten A. Druyun , a senior executive in the USAF's procurement department, had negotiated a high-paying position with Boeing while she was also overseeing the tanker business. Druyun was sentenced to nine months' imprisonment on October 1, 2004 for improperly favoring Boeing. Also CFO Michael M. Sears and CEO Philip M. Condit of Boeing were later convicted of corruption and infidelity. Boeing was fined $ 615 million. In addition, in February 2005, several senior US Department of Defense officials were accused of improperly promoting the leasing model and knowingly misrepresenting the condition of the KC-135 fleet. As a result, Congress temporarily halted the KC-767 program before Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld declared it finally ended in January 2006.

KC-X

In the meantime, the US armed forces were putting more strain on the tankers than anticipated due to the ongoing operations in Afghanistan and Iraq, so that their renewal seemed all the more urgent. This project has now become increasingly important for the US Air Force and has been at the top of the priority list since October 2006.

With the publication of a request (Request for Information, RFI) on April 25, 2006, the second attempt to modernize the tanker fleet, with the name KC-135 Tanker Replacement Program (KC-X), began . On September 25, followed by the first draft of a tender (Request for Proposal, RFP) in which the requirements are set out in the future tanker aircraft of the USAF. The procurement of 179 KC-X is planned. Like the KC-135 and KC-10, they should also be able to be used as transport aircraft for cargo and troops, but thanks to modern technology they should be much more flexible and powerful than their predecessors.

The final version of the RFP was originally due to appear on December 15, 2006, but on December 6, the Air Force postponed the release date to the end of January 2007 in order to have more time for changes. The tender documents finally appeared on January 30, 2007. Interested parties had until April 12 to submit their proposals. The only applicants were Boeing and Northrop Grumman , both of whom submitted their bids on April 10, 2007 and who revised them several times by January 3, 2008. Boeing again applied with its KC-767. At the end of September 2006 the manufacturer brought the B777 into play as the KC-777 in order to be able to offer a larger aircraft as well. In mid-February 2007, however, Boeing decided to put the KC-767 Advanced Tanker into the race, this time to be based on the new freighter version B767-200LRF (Long Range Freighter) , with the cockpit avionics derived from the Boeing 787 and the tank probe represents a revised model of the KC-10 Extender . Northrop Grumman, in cooperation with the European EADS, offered a tanker aircraft based on the Airbus A330-200 , which was to be produced in Mobile , Alabama and was provisionally called the KC-30. In November 2006, the Air Force reserved the designation KC-45A for the new tanker.

On February 29, 2008, the Air Force announced Northrop Grumman as the winner of the competition. Series production could have started in 2010 and the KC-45A would have been operational for the first time in 2013. However, on March 11, 2008, Boeing lodged a protest against this decision with the US Government Accountability Office (GAO) , which it approved on June 18. The GAO therefore recommended restarting the bidding process with the two previous bidders. The then restarted bidding process was temporarily canceled on September 10, 2008 by the Pentagon. This initially delayed the successor to the KC-135.

In February 2011, the Pentagon finally announced that after evaluating the offers, Boeing's design, the future KC-46A , should come into play. Decisive for Boeing's offer were the lower acquisition and maintenance costs, which compensated for the low tank capacity compared to the KC-45.

The KC-X program has an estimated volume of 35 billion US dollars and covers the renewal of a third of the approximately 600 tankers in the US Air Force; the remaining aircraft are to be replaced by the subsequent KC-Y and KC-Z programs . Even if things went according to plan, the last KC-135s would remain in service until around 2043 and would then be in service for over 80 years. The contract negotiated with the US Air Force provides for a fixed price for the aircraft to be delivered, so additional costs are borne directly by the manufacturer Boeing.

The final KC-46A is based on the new freighter 767-2C , so it will be a variant of the 767-200ER . This aircraft has been extended by 2 m and has an increased maximum total weight of a good 188,000 kg. Other elements include the cargo floor and a cargo hatch on the side, a display system based on that of the 787, additional tanks and preparations for attaching the refueling devices to the wing ( probe and catch funnel ) and under the stern (tank boom) .

The so-called "Critical Design Review" took place in summer 2013, during which time the US Air Force set up Detachment 1 of the 418th Flight Test Squadron (FTS) at Boeing Field for military testing of the aircraft.

On September 25, 2015, the KC-46A Pegasus successfully completed its maiden flight.

Testing and procurement

In January 2014, the assembly of the fourth and final test aircraft began. The further schedule provided for tests with all four test machines on the ground and test flights in 2014, the first machine to be delivered in early 2016 and a total of 18 machines to be delivered to the US Air Force by August 2017.

The first flight of a test aircraft without an air refueling system took place on December 28, 2014, the first flight of a machine with a refueling system on June 2, 2015. The first air refueling with the boom was carried out in January 2016 on a General Dynamics F-16 , followed by the hose system in February with a McDonnell Douglas F / A-18 as receiver. The second prototype completed its maiden flight on March 2, 2016. After the total of six prototypes, the first series tanker took off on its maiden flight on December 5, 2017 and the US Air Force formally accepted delivery on January 10, 2019.

The first delivery and commissioning officially took place on January 25, 2019 at McConnell Air Force Base in Kansas for the 22nd Air Refueling Wing.

The acceptance of the KC-46 was refused twice by the US Air Force until April 2019. Military inspectors discovered foreign objects and forgotten tools and screws in closed compartments such as the wing sections of the aircraft.

Airbus is currently offering the armed forces the A330 MRTT tanker through a cooperation with Lockheed.

User states

KC-46A at the 2019 Paris Air Show

 United States

149 KC-46A: The US Air Force plans to conduct pilot training in Oklahoma at Altus Air Force Base (AFB). The first training squadron , the 56th Air Refueling Squadron , was set up in August 2016. Additional locations have been McConnell AFB in Kansas since January 2019 , Pease Air National Guard Base in New Hampshire since August 2019, and Seymour Johnson Air Force Base ( Air Force Reserve ) since June 2020 .

 Japan

2 KC-46A: Japan's Air Defense Forces will procure two KC-46A to reinforce their four KC-767Js.

 Israel

According to a report from the end of May 2016, Israel plans to procure at least two machines of the type.

Technical specifications

Parameter	Data
Type:	Tanker aircraft, passenger and cargo transportation
Crew:	3 (15 seats available, including for Medevac flights)
Length:	48.50 m
Span:	47.50 m
Height:	15.50 m
Empty weight:	82,377 kg
Maximum take-off weight:	188,240 kg
Maximum fuel capacity:	96,297 kg (up to 94,198 kg for air refueling)
Maximum cargo capacity:	29,484 kg or 58 passengers or 18 463L pallets
Engines:	two turbofan engines Pratt & Whitney PW4062 with 282 kN thrust each
Top speed:	915 km / h
Marching speed:	851 km / h
Range:	12,200 km
Service ceiling:	12,200 m

Web links

Commons : Boeing KC-46  - collection of images, videos and audio files

• USAF factsheet on the KC-46
• Boeing NewGen tanker site

Individual evidence

1. ↑ ^{a b} Boeing completes successful first flight in KC-46 program. US Air Force, December 28, 2014, accessed August 7, 2015 . 
2. ↑ KC-46A number 7 flies. FlugRevue.de , December 6, 2017, accessed December 6, 2017 . 
3. ↑ Christopher Bolkcom: The Air Force KC-767 Tanker Lease Proposal: Key Issues For Congress. Congressional Research Service (Ed.) Report RL32056 (PDF; 0.5 MB) ( Memento from November 6, 2011 in the Internet Archive ). Washington, September 2, 2003
4. ↑ Christopher Bolkcom: Air Force Aerial Refueling. Congressional Research Service (Ed.) Report RS20941 (PDF; 46 kB) . Washington, DC, September 19, 2005
5. ↑ C. Todd Lopez: Tanker hits top of the charts for recapitalization priority. Air Force Print News, Oct. 13, 2006
6. ^ Request for Information (RFI). fbo.gov (Federal Business Opportunities), April 25, 2006
7. ↑ Tender documents of the KC-X. fbo.gov (Federal Business Opportunities), January 30, 2007
8. ↑ Michael Sirak: Boeing unveils KC-777 tanker concept, but still mulling options for KC-X. Defense Daily , September 27, 2006
9. ↑ Boeing Offers KC-767 Advanced Tanker to US Air Force. ( Memento of February 14, 2007 in the Internet Archive ) www.boeing.com, February 12, 2007
10. ^ Air Force Announces Tanker Contract. USAF News February 29, 2008
11. ↑ GAO Sustains Boeing Bid Protest. GAO statement of June 18, 2008 ( PDF, 51 kB ).
12. ↑ Tanker aircraft order: Pentagon cancels bidding process.  ( Page no longer available , search in web archives )
13. ↑ https://www.flightglobal.com/news/articles/updated-usaf-selects-boeing-for-kc-x-contract-353642/
14. ↑ ^{a b} James Drew: Boeing completes KC-46 flutter tests as EMD-2 flight faces delay. In: Flightglobal.com. August 14, 2015, accessed on August 15, 2015 (English): "The Boeing KC-46 test program has completed a series of flutter tests of the 767-2C tanker type, certifying it to operate with wing aerial refueling pods and its tanker tail boom stowed. " 
15. ↑ Air Force's KC-46A Refueling Tanker Makes First Flight. defensetech.org, accessed September 26, 2015
16. ↑ Boeing Starts Assembly of Final KC-46A Test Aircraft. Boeing, January 16, 2014, accessed March 27, 2014 . 
17. ↑ Jane's Information Group : KC-46A first test flight expected six months behind schedule as costs rise. ( Memento of December 22, 2014 in the Internet Archive ), accessed on December 22, 2014
18. ↑ Jane's Information Group: KC-46A test aircraft completes first flight with boom, refueling pods. ( Memento of June 5, 2015 in the Internet Archive ), accessed on June 4, 2015
19. ↑ Boeing KC-46A: First air refueling
20. ↑ James Drew: KC-46 demonstrates probe-and-drogue refueling of F / A-18. In: Flightglobal.com. February 12, 2016, accessed on February 13, 2016 (English): "On January 24, Pegasus completed its first ever aerial refueling by topping up an F-16 during a 5h 45min sortie over Seattle, Washington." 
21. ↑ James Drew: Boeing's second KC-46A achieves first flight. In: Flightglobal.com. March 4, 2016, accessed March 7, 2016 . 
22. ^ Gareth Jennings: First KC-46A tanker for USAF makes maiden flight. In: Janes.com. December 6, 2017, accessed December 7, 2017 . 
23. ↑ USAF accepts Boeing KC-46A air tanker after years of delays, Flightglobal, January 10, 2019
24. ↑ US Air Force receives first KC-46A Pegasus aircraft. In: Defense Blog. January 27, 2019. Retrieved January 27, 2019 (American English). 
25. ↑ Boeing has the next problem plane. In: welt.de. April 3, 2019, accessed August 20, 2019 . 
26. ↑ Now Airbus is taking revenge for the tanker order of the century. In: welt.de. December 4, 2018, accessed August 20, 2019 . 
27. ^ Air Mobility Commander: US Air Force Needs More New Tankers. Defense News, Aug. 31, 2016
28. ↑ James Drew: Pease ANGB begins preparations to house Boeing KC-46 in 2018. In: Flightglobal.com. Flightglobal, accessed September 25, 2015 . 
29. ↑ KC-46 delivery to Seymour Johnson delayed after debris found in fuel tank , accessed June 16, 2020
30. ↑ Boeing sells second KC-46 military tanker to Japan for $ 159 million , accessed December 22, 2018
31. ↑ https://www.flightglobal.com/news/articles/israel-steps-up-interest-in-kc-46-tanker-425886/