WASHINGTON \u2014 The U.S. Air Force\u2019s newest tanker, the KC-46A, wrapped up electromagnetic testing, putting Boeing one step closer to delivering the first aircraft, the company said Thursday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The tests \u2014 which took place at Naval Air Station Patuxent River, Maryland, and Edwards Air Force Base, California \u2014 assessed whether the aircraft could safely operate when confronted by the electromagnetic fields generated by equipment like radar, Boeing said in a statement.<\/p>\n\n\n <\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThe KC-46 tanker is protected by various hardening and shielding technologies designed into the aircraft to negate any effects on the aircraft,\u201d said Mike Gibbons, Boeing KC-46 vice president and program manager. \u201cThis successful effort retires one of the key risks on the program.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n During indoor tests at Patuxent River, the second low-rate initial production aircraft was placed on a pad and subjected to electromagnetic pulses from a large coil. Boeing also conducted outdoor tests that simulated the effects of electromagnetic activity on the plane while it was in flight.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Boeing spokesman Charles Ramey confirmed that both the aircraft and wing air refueling pods had completed electromagnetic tests.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In a report released in March, the Government Accountability Office pegged the tests as one of the two key risk factors that could keep Boeing from meeting its delivery goals \u2014 including delivering the first KC-46A to the U.S. Air Force this year and 18 tankers and nine refueling pods by the October 2018 deadline.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The GAO report stated that electromagnetic tests were scheduled for May 2017 but faced the risk of being delayed, which could further affect the pace of aircraft deliveries. The U.S. Air Force was not immediately able to comment on whether the schedule had been adjusted to accommodate later electromagnetic testing or whether the events constituted a delay.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Ramey stated that the timing of the electromagnetic tests would not push back other key milestones and that the company still intends to deliver the first KC-46A this year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In June, the U.S. Air Force indicated it believed that the delivery wouldn\u2019t occur until late spring 2018.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The service listed the tanker\u2019s upcoming airworthiness certifications \u2014 which must be conducted by the Federal Aviation Administration, the government\u2019s primary aerospace regulatory agency \u2014 and the remainder of its flight test program as the major factors slowing the program\u2019s progress but added that \u201conce Boeing receives the remaining design approvals from the FAA, [we] expect testing to proceed on a faster pace.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The U.S. Air Force\u2019s newest tanker, the KC-46A, recently wrapped up electromagnetic testing, putting Boeing one step closer to delivering the first aircraft, the company said Thursday.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":16650,"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":7,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","_smg_distribution_targets":[]},"categories":[7,160,36],"tags":[],"coauthors":[3384],"class_list":["post-54164","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-air","category-daily-news-roundup","category-newsletters"],"acf":{"subheadline":"","legacy_arc_id":"4UQJTZTEGVF6LBL7XOFYZ3F7WU","arc_canonical_url":"\/air\/2017\/07\/28\/kc-46-tanker-completes-electromagnetic-tests\/","remove_feature_photo":false,"is_sponsored":false,"subtype":"","redirect_url":"","disable_inline_ads":false,"native_logo_pretext":"Presented By:"},"yoast_head":"\n