Planes that can't refuel can't fight advancements like the KC-46 will be
crucial in u.s power projection. Last week the KC-46 pegasus aerial
refueling aircraft passed one of its two final milestones prior to entering
service with the u.s air force.
The federal aviation administration granted the platform a supplemental type
certificate. The KC-46 had previously received the federal aviation
administration amended type certificate which addressed its basic
airworthiness and performance.
This second certificate addresses the aircraft's refueling and mission
avionics systems.
While the pegasus still must be granted its military type certificate, which
covers specialized military functions and systems all testing required for
this certificate has been accomplished.
Now nothing stands in the way of the KC-46 entering service and this is a
rather remarkable achievement for a program that only began in 2011 and
which even late last year was struggling to resolve problems with parts of
its refueling system.
The u.s air force is now scheduled to receive its first production tanker
this month with the remaining 17 aircraft required under the original
contract to be delivered no later than april 2019.
The KC-46 is primarily intended to replace the aging KC-135 strato tanker.
The KC-46 will be a substantial improvement over the KC-135 regarding the
amount of fuel it can deliver in its cargo capacity.
Equally important, the maintenance costs associated with the KC-135 are
becoming prohibitive.
One reason the air force began pursuit of a new tanker at the turn of the
millennium is that it could see the riding on the wall concerning the costs
of maintaining the kc 135 fleet.
Since 2001 with the expansion of global air operations as part of the war on
terror. The tanker fleet has been employed more intensively than had been
anticipated with a resulting increase in wear and tear on the aircraft and a
sharp rise in maintenance costs.
The challenge posed by sustainment costs is the primary reason why the air
force plans to begin its recapitalization of the tanker fleet, by retiring
its 58 the KC-10 extenders even though this aircraft is newer and more
capable than the KC-135.
While the KC-10s continue to perform well, the higher total cost of
ownership associated with the relatively small size of this fleet dictated
the air force's decision to retire them.
With its expanded operational envelope, fuel capacity and ability to service
multiple aircraft simultaneously, the kc-46 will multiply the operational
effectiveness of air force navy and marine corps assets.
In addition the kc-46 will be able to provide critical refueling support to
allied nations in europe, the middle east and East Asia.
The kc-46 is entering service in the nick of time. in an era in which great
power competition has reemerged as the primary focus of United States
national security planning, the demands on air mobility assets overall but
refueling tankers in particular are certain to increase.
General Darren Mcdew the current head of u.s transportation command,
testified recently before congress that the current operating tempo for the
tanker fleet requires a fleet of 1,000 aircraft.
The air force's current plan is to reshape its current tanker fleet by 455
aircraft by retiring the KC-10s and some 98 older the KC-135, while
acquiring a minimum of 179 the KC-46s to complement a residual force of 300
the KC-135.
It is all but certain that the air force will acquire more KC-46s than the
planned 179. Having retired the KC-10 in a bid to rationalize his tanker
fleet, why would the air force pursue development of another refueling
aircraft?
Given the existence of a hot production line it would make sense to continue
to procure the KC-46 in greater numbers while retiring KC-135 at an
accelerated rate.
General Carlton Everhart, the commander of the air force's air mobility
command has floated the idea of structuring the KC-46 program for spiral
development with improvements being added to the aircraft on a regular
schedule.
That way he suggested air mobility command could receive the benefits of
operating the KC-46, now while investing in upgrades that would keep the
aircraft relevant for the next 100 years.
The sustainment model for the KC-46 is likely to be quite different from
that for existing air force tankers. some 95 % of the parts on the KC-46 are
the same as those on the commercial 767.
The aircraft's engines are a derivative of Pratt and Whitney's commercial pw
4000-94.
with some 740-767 still in operation and new cargo variants coming off the
production line the air force could take advantage of this aircraft's
existing installed base of maintenance, repair and overhaul capabilities in
the private sector in a global inventory of common spare parts.
All four of the air force's priority modernization programs of which the
KC-46 is one, appear to be making substantial progress.
