Dozens of Airmen and four KC-135s from the 914th Air Refueling Wing returned home to Niagara Falls Air Reserve Station, N.Y., this month from the wing’s first combat deployment with the tankers. The wing switched from flying C-130s to KC-135s beginning in 2017, became fully ...
aerial refueling
Air Mobility Command needs to develop a force prepared for a high-end fight, advance new capabilities beyond the traditional role of the heavy aircraft, embrace the role in ferrying the joint force forward, and ensure the nation’s nuclear mission can be fueled and ready, the ...
Draft versions of the 2021 defense policy bill in both the House and Senate will keep enough legacy tankers in the Air Force to “bridge” the fleet to the point where the KC-46 will become fully operational without extensive stress on the military’s refueling backbone, ...
The Air Force's new combat search and rescue helicopter completed its first aerial refueling on Aug. 5. Air Force and Sikorsky pilots flew the HH-60W Jolly Green II at 110 knots to connect with an HC-130J tanker during the initial test, which lasted just under ...
The Air Force’s first KC-10 Extender is heading to the boneyard after 33 years of service, totaling more than 33,000 flight hours and refueling more than 125,000 aircraft. The KC-10, tail number 86-0036, was sent off in a ceremony July 13 at its last operational ...
A House panel plans to let the Air Force retire some of its KC-10s in a phased approach while blocking cuts to the KC-135 fleet, with a caveat. The House Armed Services seapower and projection forces subcommittee’s markup of the fiscal 2021 National Defense Authorization ...
The Air Force is extending its feasibility study into the use of privately owned aerial refueling tankers after an initial report determined further research is needed to understand legal and financial challenges. Last week, the Air Force delivered a Commercial Air Refueling Report to the ...
KC-135s and Airmen from the 349th Air Refueling Squadron at McConnell Air Force Base, Kan., lived in quarantine and dramatically changed their routine before heading to the Middle East earlier this month. The early April deployment to Al Udeid Air Base, Qatar, is an example ...
Air Mobility Command will soon stop some missions and cut back others to focus on what it has deemed essential, as the new coronavirus outbreak changes how the military operates globally. Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. David Goldfein ordered all major commands to provide ...
The Air Force and Boeing have agreed on a plan to replace the cameras and other components of the KC-46’s remote vision system, addressing the biggest flaw with the service's new tanker. As part of the deal, the company will receive $882 million of previously ...
USAF’s budget seeks to swap capacity now for capability in the future, but TRANSCOM is leery.
Air Mobility Command is pursuing a contract for privately operated tankers to meet the unrelenting need for booms in the air as the service proposes cutting 29 KC-135s and KC-10s. The command is wrapping up a feasibility study on the plan this month with the ...