{"id":60320,"date":"2019-01-25T19:10:48","date_gmt":"2019-01-25T19:10:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/uncategorized\/2019\/01\/25\/the-air-force-gets-its-first-new-kc-46s-an-event-decades-in-the-making\/"},"modified":"2026-08-08T00:29:23","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T00:29:23","slug":"the-air-force-gets-its-first-new-kc-46s-an-event-decades-in-the-making","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/air\/2019\/01\/25\/the-air-force-gets-its-first-new-kc-46s-an-event-decades-in-the-making\/","title":{"rendered":"US Air Force receives new KC-46 aircraft, an event decades in the making"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/atype-video-jwplayer>
The Air Force’s first KC-46 Pegasus touches down.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n

EVERETT, Wash., and MCCONNELL AIR FORCE BASE, Kan. \u2014 On the chilly morning of Jan. 25, just as the sun was beginning to rise, two KC-46 refueling tankers took off<\/a> from Boeing\u2019s Everett, Washington, delivery center and began flying toward McConnell Air Force Base in Kansas. Later that day, it touched down, to cheers from airmen assigned to the base\u2019s 22nd Air Refueling Wing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It took only minutes for the aircraft to taxi and take to the skies \u2014 a welcome lack of drama<\/a> for a program that has seen prolonged challenges: a virulent competition between two companies, two years of schedule delays<\/a> and more than $3 billion in cost overruns<\/a> that manufacturer Boeing had to pay out of pocket.<\/p>\n\n\n\t