Fewer U.S. Air Force tankers are available for aerial refueling missions than official figures suggest, according to a new report.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The problem is how the Air Force defines a tanker as mission-capable. A tanker that is available for non-refueling missions such as medevac or cargo transport will be rated as mission-capable \u2014 even if it can\u2019t perform refueling.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It is a second category, fully mission capable, or FMC, that rates whether a tanker is available for the refueling task.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThe percentage of aerial refueling tankers that are available and mission capable has remained persistently below the standards that the Air Force established for the fleet,\u201d warned the Government Accountability Office report, which examined the tanker fleet from 2019 to 2025.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cMoreover, the percentage of fully mission capable tankers \u2014 those capable of performing all their missions \u2014 is even smaller.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Exactly how many tankers are \u2014 or are not \u2014 partly or fully mission capable isn\u2019t in the GAO report. The new report is a public version of a May 2026 study that was deemed Controlled Unclassified Information because tanker availability rates were regarded as too sensitive.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
As of March 2026, the Air Force reported 373 KC-135 and 103 KC-46A tankers, GAO said. Given how absolutely indispensable tankers are to U.S. air operations, knowing exactly how many are available for refueling missions is vital.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In addition to questionable availability rates, the Air Force tanker fleet also suffers from severe sustainment issues. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
For the venerable KC-135, which entered service in 1957, finding spare parts is a challenge. Yet because of problems with the KC-46A \u2014 a converted Boeing 767 airliner \u2014 such as the aircraft\u2019s refueling boom, the Air Force has been forced to still rely on the KC-135.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cMaintainers from multiple units told us they considered parts shortages to be the key contributing factor to low availability and capability rates,\u201d said GAO. \u201cFor example, KC-135 maintainers from one unit said they have planes that are sometimes grounded for many months due to unavailable parts.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
A previous GAO report found that the Air Force was underestimating delays in aircraft maintenance due to overworked repair depots. The new tanker study found that the Air Force tanker fleet suffers from lack of skilled maintainers as well as insufficient new infrastructure to support the KC-46A.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
All of which is forcing Air Force units to find creative ways to keep the flying gas stations aloft. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cFor example, unit officials at Tinker Air Force Base discussed \u2018regionalization\u2019 efforts, where bases \u2018borrow\u2019 aircraft from each other to meet their mission needs,\u201d GAO said. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cAir Mobility Command officials told us about ongoing discussions to increase the amount of time between scheduled depot maintenance periods from 5 to 6 years, which they estimated would increase the availability of aircraft by about 6 percent,\u201d the report added.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
GAO recommended that the Air Force establish standards to specifically assess the aerial refueling capability of the tanker fleet. In addition, the Air Force should develop a plan to mitigate long-term risks for sustaining its tankers.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
In addition to questionable availability rates, the Air Force tanker fleet also suffers from severe sustainment issues, according to the GAO. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":111438,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-noindex":"","_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-nofollow":"","_yoast_wpseo_canonical":"","_acf":"","_yoast_wpseo_primary_category":67,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","_smg_distribution_targets":[]},"categories":[101,16,26,67],"tags":[],"coauthors":[3326],"class_list":["post-80307","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-daily-news-roundup","category-news","category-newsletters","category-your-air-force"],"acf":{"subheadline":"","legacy_arc_id":"HKT4BJEVEZFSHOIC6QFZ2GLMFY","arc_canonical_url":"\/news\/your-military\/2026\/06\/16\/us-air-force-tanker-availability-figures-may-be-inflated-study-finds\/","remove_feature_photo":false,"is_sponsored":false,"subtype":"","redirect_url":"","disable_inline_ads":false,"native_logo_pretext":"Presented By:"},"yoast_head":"\n