ADVERTISEMENT

Reaching Out

Jan. 8, 2008

Audio of this article is brought to you by the Air & Space Forces Association, honoring and supporting our Airmen, Guardians, and their families. Find out more at afa.org

The Air Force is advancing plans to field a new Combat Rescue Tanker next decade to refuel special mission aircraft such as the CV-22 Osprey. The Aeronautical Systems Center has announced that it intends to issue a request for proposal on Jan. 15 for one component of this aircraft: a variable speed/variable drag drogue. The drogue system would allow next-generation Air Force Special Operations Command tankers “to support simultaneous helicopter and single CV-22 refueling capability on the same mission without landing to re-configure.” ASC wants the drogue capable of operating at speeds of 105 knots to 215 knots. Overall USAF wants up to 115 new tankers to replace its current HC-130 combat rescue and MC-130 special operations refueling aircraft.

Audio of this article is brought to you by the Air & Space Forces Association, honoring and supporting our Airmen, Guardians, and their families. Find out more at afa.org

Trending Stories

NATO Scrambles Fighter in Newest Response to Russian Drones

The Value of Integrated Air and Space Operations: Multidomain Solutions 

Tylenol or Paracetamol? How to Aeromedical Evac With Allies

‘Prepare to Abandon the Aircraft!’ 

Related Content

Happy Birthday US Air Force: 78 Today

Sept. 18, 2025
Seventy-eight years ago today, on Sept. 18, 1947, Supreme Court Chief Justice Fred Vinson swore in Stuart Symington as the first ever Secretary of the Air Force, and the Air Force officially became the first new military service since the Revolutionary War. 

Planning an Air Show Is Hard. At Andrews, It’s Even Harder

Sept. 17, 2025
Joint Base Andrews opened its flightline this month to thousands of civilians, exposing a normally restricted airbase that regularly hosts the president and foreign dignitaries to a curious public eager to see current and historic military aircraft up close and in action. 

The Value of Integrated Air and Space Operations: Multidomain Solutions 

Sept. 16, 2025
America faces the most severe security environment seen since World War II, and U.S. military leaders are working aggressively to develop new strategies, operational concepts, and technologies in response. As these efforts advance, it is imperative that new ideas and concepts be validated, designed with ample resilience and be flexible…

NATO Scrambles Fighter in Newest Response to Russian Drones

Sept. 16, 2025
NATO scrambled its first fighter Sept. 13 under its new plan to bolster its defenses against Russian air incursions that was put into place after an array of Russian drones flew into Polish airspace last week, the officials from the alliance’s military command said.