{"id":43335,"date":"2019-01-16T11:00:11","date_gmt":"2019-01-16T11:00:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/uncategorized\/2019\/01\/16\/pegasus-arrives-kc-46-tanker-makes-america-more-effective-in-era-of-growing-threats\/"},"modified":"2026-08-07T23:38:22","modified_gmt":"2026-08-07T23:38:22","slug":"pegasus-arrives-kc-46-tanker-makes-america-more-effective-in-era-of-growing-threats","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/commentary\/2019\/01\/16\/pegasus-arrives-kc-46-tanker-makes-america-more-effective-in-era-of-growing-threats\/","title":{"rendered":"Pegasus arrives: KC-46 tanker makes America more effective in era of growing threats"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

This was a milestone week in Air Force history. The U.S. Air Force and Boeing found agreement on the terms for the KC-46 air-refueling aircraft to enter the active inventory<\/a>. The long-sought goal of recapitalizing the KC-135 air-refueling force is set to begin. As former Secretary of the Air Force Donald Rice explained in the 1992 version of the seminal \u201cGlobal Reach\u2014Global Power\u201d whitepaper: \u201cOur global power ensures our friends are not alone. With our responsiveness, potential adversaries understand that distance does not mean disinterest.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The ability to manifest that vision \u2014 for air power to reach anywhere on the globe in a matter of hours \u2014 is fundamentally dependent upon aerial refueling. In any air campaign, the factor limiting sortie generation has less to do with the number of fighters, bombers, or airlifters available than the number of air-refueling booms in the air.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Today, that air-refueling boom demand is predominantly met by a fleet of approximately 400 KC-135s, whose average age is nearing 60 years. Even the Air Force\u2019s \u201cyoung\u201d fleet of tankers, 59 KC-10s, averages over 30 years old.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

While the advanced age of these aircraft stands as a tribute to the engineers who designed them and the maintenance teams who sustain them, they are at increasing risk. If a fleetwide problem were to affect these geriatric airplanes, military options fall off the table. There is no alternative when it comes to this mission that underpins America\u2019s global reach. The other services do not provide this capability, and allied air forces cannot match it. That\u2019s why the KC-46 is so important. The Air Force now has a solution.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The practical solutions that Secretary Heather Wilson, her acquisition chief Will Roper and Boeing devised to get the KC-46 into the operational force sooner rather than later are commendable. A path forward to resolve the discrepancies that remain with the aircraft\u2019s remote vision system and boom will now not impede getting the much-needed tanker into operation. The basic reality is that the KC-46 is much more capable than its legacy counterparts. They include improved fuel offload effectiveness, new battle management capabilities, 21st century networking, sustainment-focused data analytics, next-generation situational awareness and defensive countermeasures. The KC-46s rolling off Boeing\u2019s line today increase the mission-based affordability and effectiveness of America\u2019s military in an era of growing threats.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Headlines have focused on the 17 months of delays and extra costs incurred by the aircraft. However, while late delivery is unfortunate, it pales in comparison to schedule slips experienced by other weapons systems across all the services. As for cost, Boeing will absorb the increases for correcting the remote vision system, and the Air Force will fund additional work needed for the boom.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As the Air Force looks to the future, it is important to understand the potential of the KC-46 not as simply a linear extension of its predecessor refueling aircraft. In a world increasingly defined by the ability to gather, process and collaboratively share information, the KC-46 will serve as a valuable node in the combat cloud paradigm of warfare.<\/p>\n\n\n\t