The newest Category One deficiency on the KC-46 is the type of flaw that can be expected when a new aircraft is evaluated, and is not expected to impact the timeline, Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. David Goldfein said. The service announced this week ...
The Air Force’s troubled new tanker has another serious deficiency: a fuel leak problem that Boeing must fix at its own cost. The service’s KC-46 program office first discovered a fuel leak during a flight test in July 2019, and the Air Force announced March ...
Air Force acquisition programs remain largely on course, despite some major disruptions from the new coronavirus outbreak, such as Boeing halting production at its Puget Sound-area facilities in Washington state, the service’s acquisition boss said. The outbreak has posed unprecedented challenges to the service and ...
Lawmakers are beginning to weigh how the fiscal 2021 defense policy bill could help solve the KC-46 tanker program’s woes and speed its introduction into regular operations. Congress could dictate the terms of how Boeing should fix the tanker’s faulty remote vision system and how ...
Chief of Staff Gen. David Goldfein told Senate legislators March 3 the service will not use the new KC-46 tanker unless absolutely necessary to fight a powerful adversary. The wide-ranging Senate Armed Services Committee hearing—the first of multiple chances the Air Force has this week ...
The Air Force wants to retire 28 KC-10s and KC-135s, even though the KC-46 tanker is years away from operational capability. This KC-46 fleet has been plagued by problems, especially with its Remote Vision System, which links the boom operator to the refueling system. Air ...
Boeing has incurred another $148 million in losses for its KC-46 tanker program due to higher than expected manufacturing costs, as the company works with the Air Force to address continued deficiencies in the tanker’s capabilities. The company disclosed the losses in a Jan. 31 ...
The Air Force on Dec. 18 downgraded one of the top-level problems facing the KC-46 program, lifting a three-month ban that stopped the tanker from carrying personnel and cargo as Boeing began installing new cargo locks on the aircraft. The redesigned lock has been retrofitted ...
Air Mobility Command officials recently met with more than a dozen companies to figure out how the Air Force could use privately owned refueling aircraft to take on certain missions, freeing up USAF tankers for more training and operations. The command on Dec. 17 brought ...
Airmen from the 60th Aerial Port Squadron from Travis AFB, Calif., load cargo onto a McConnell AFB, Kansas, KC-46A Pegasus on Aug. 21, 2019. Air Force photo by SrA. Christian Conrad. The first major test phase for the Air Force’s...