Pentagon officials briefed the results of the oft-revised tanker analysis of alternatives on Capitol Hill on Jan. 26. The AOA concludes that USAF should replace its elderly KC-135s with one or more medium-to-large size commercial airframes, but it offers no timetable.
The KC-Z4, a blended wing body tanker concept being developed by startup JetZero, could fuel larger groups of aircraft at longer range to hold more targets at risk, company officials say.