Given that the Air Force will be operating 179 KC-46As and have an organic logistics support system for them in place when it’s time to buy the next installment of tankers, does the KC-46 have an inside track for the follow-on buy? It’s way too early to say, according to Maj. Gen. John Thompson, the Air Force’s tanker program executive officer, in an Oct. 28 interview. The KC-Y requirements process has just begun, and still to be determined is just how much the Air Force will invest in an organic KC-46 logistics train, or whether to depend on the existing worldwide commercial support network for the Boeing 767, on which the KC-46 is based. “It all depends on the requirements,” said Thompson. “I can foresee a situation where the [KC-Y] requirements are drastically different. But I can also foresee a situation where the requirements are very similar,” he said. Boeing is scheduled to deliver 179 KC-46s by 2027; to keep recapping the 1950s-vintage KC-135s without a break will mean the KC-Y needs to get going around 2025. That timing may be problematic, though: by then, the Air Force will also be starting Long Range Strike Bomber production and will still be only halfway to filling out its F-35 strike fighter fleet.
Pentagon Releases Cost of Living, BAH Rates for 2026
Dec. 30, 2025
The Pentagon will pay cost of living allowances to 127,000 service members in the continental U.S. in 2026, an increase of 66,000 members in 2025. Airmen and Guardians across the U.S. will also receive an average increase of 4.2 percent for their Basic Housing Allowance, compared to the 5.4 percent…
