{"id":61731,"date":"2018-05-09T20:11:33","date_gmt":"2018-05-09T20:11:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/uncategorized\/2018\/05\/09\/remember-that-list-of-kc-46-problems-heres-how-theyre-getting-fixed\/"},"modified":"2026-08-08T00:38:03","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T00:38:03","slug":"remember-that-list-of-kc-46-problems-heres-how-theyre-getting-fixed","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/air\/2018\/05\/09\/remember-that-list-of-kc-46-problems-heres-how-theyre-getting-fixed\/","title":{"rendered":"Remember that list of KC-46 problems? Here\u2019s how they\u2019re getting fixed."},"content":{"rendered":"<figure class=\"wp-block-smg-jwplayer-video\"><atype-video-jwplayer nostick=\"true\" playlisturl=\"https:\/\/cdn.jwplayer.com\/v2\/playlists\/fCzRqMW8?tags=8e33289d-0b69-414b-bc2d-dcac33c25033\" poster=\"\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/video-poster-8e33289d-0b69-414b-bc2d-dcac33c25033.jpg\" aspectratio=\"16 \/ 9\" mute autostart=\"false\"><\/atype-video-jwplayer><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Get a unique look at KC-46 flight testing and construction at Boeing&#8217;s facilities near Seattle. (Jeff Martin\/Staff)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">EVERETT, Wash. \u2014 Boeing\u2019s KC-46 program manager has vowed to fix a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.defensenews.com\/air\/2018\/03\/16\/air-force-adds-two-new-deficiencies-to-kc-46s-list-of-problems\/\" title=\"\" class=\"\" target=\"_blank\">critical technical issue<\/a> before delivery of the first tanker this summer, and a fix appears to be within grasp, he told reporters Thursday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The U.S. Air Force <a href=\"https:\/\/www.defensenews.com\/air\/2018\/03\/20\/boeing-kc-46-delays-are-frustrating-air-force-secretary-heather-wilson\/\" title=\"\" class=\"selected-link\" target=\"_blank\">may not accept<\/a> the first KC-46 tanker until it reverses a category-1 deficiency \u2014 the designation for the most serious technical issue \u2014 involving the remote vision system. The RVS is a series of cameras and sensors made by Rockwell Collins that allows the boom operator to guide the boom into an aircraft\u2019s refueling receptacle.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">That system needed some fine-tuning for use in certain times of day where the sun is at particular angles, creating shadows and glare that make it difficult to insert the boom without it scraping the receiver aircraft, said Mike Gibbons, Boeing\u2019s program manager. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">But a software fix is undergoing flight testing, and Gibbons expects the Air Force to declare the issue resolved in the next couple of months, he told reporters touring the company\u2019s production facilities in Everett, Washington.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cWe worked an enhancement, and what we were able to do through software is sharpen the image and the shadows get rid of the glare. We actually flew that for the first time in mid-March with the Air Force on board. So they looked at it; they provided some additional commentary,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\t<aside class=\"smg-interstitial-link wp-block-smg-interstitial-link\">\n\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/air\/2018\/05\/04\/boeing-pushes-back-on-its-bad-reputation-on-kc-46-tanker-program\/\" class=\"smg-interstitial-link__inner\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"smg-interstitial-link__media\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"300\" height=\"200\" src=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/KC-46-row-1.jpg.jpg?w=300\" class=\"smg-interstitial-link__image wp-post-image\" alt=\"\" \/>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"smg-interstitial-link__content\">\n\t\t\t\t<span class=\"smg-interstitial-link__kicker\">Related<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t<h3 class=\"smg-interstitial-link__title\">Boeing pushes back on the KC-46 program\u2019s bad reputation with the Air Force<\/h3>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p class=\"smg-interstitial-link__excerpt\">&quot;We have an entire fleet of tankers here,&quot; according to the head of Boeing&#039;s defense business. Defense News has traveled to check this claim.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/a>\n\t<\/aside>\n\t\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Boeing\u2019s four test KC-46 aircraft are now flying with the second iteration of the software, and that version will be used during final tests of the RVS over the next month. Boeing officials are confident the RVS deficiency will be downgraded to a category-2 problem, if not eliminated altogether, he added.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">That will allow the company to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.defensenews.com\/air\/2018\/03\/07\/another-kc-46-delivery-slip-puts-pressure-on-boeing-to-meet-contract-obligations\/\" title=\"\" class=\"\" target=\"_blank\">deliver the first tanker<\/a> as early as sometime this summer, according to Boeing\u2019s schedule.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The RVS problem is connected to another open category-1 deficiency for \u201cundetected contacts outside the receptacle,\u201d more commonly referred to as the KC-46\u2019s boom-scraping issue. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1079\" height=\"628\" src=\"\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/KC-46-Line-1.jpg.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-29160\" srcset=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/KC-46-Line-1.jpg.jpg 1079w, https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/KC-46-Line-1.jpg.jpg?resize=300,175 300w, https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/KC-46-Line-1.jpg.jpg?resize=768,447 768w, https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/KC-46-Line-1.jpg.jpg?resize=1024,596 1024w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1079px) 100vw, 1079px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Boeing&#8217;s Everett Modification Center is where 767 aircraft are transformed into KC-46 Pegasus aircraft. (Jeff Martin\/Staff)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Last September, the Air Force grew concerned that the KC-46 had a higher rate of incidents where the boom had hit outside a receiver plane\u2019s receptacle, scraping the surface of that aircraft \u2014 a significant and potentially expensive complication for stealth jets that rely on radar-absorbent coatings to maintain low observability.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Boeing in November 2017 brought in Tom Russell, the director of remote sensing for its satellite systems business, to help guide improvements to the RVS and boom operator station. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The company and the Air Force also collected data from the KC-46 test fleet and compared it to the rate of \u201cundetected contacts\u201d throughout the service\u2019s tanker fleet, which today is comprised of KC-135 and KC-10 tankers. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cWhat we determined is, the KC-46 is well within the family,\u201d Gibbons said. \u201cWe have had contacts outside the receptacle; so do legacy tankers. Our rate is within the norm for what we\u2019re seeing out in the fleet today.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">For that reason, Boeing has decided to concentrate on the RVS problem, believing that if it can improve that system, the rate of undetected contacts would naturally decrease \u2014 allowing the Air Force to close out the RVS and undetected contact deficiencies simultaneously.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The Air Force, naturally, has a different point of view. It hasn\u2019t seen the final version of Boeing\u2019s assessment, Air Force officials told reporters May 9. But the key problem isn\u2019t necessarily the scraping. It\u2019s that the scraping is undetected by the boom operator and therefore not conveyed to the receiver aircraft\u2019s crew. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cWe\u2019re not focused on counting scratches. We\u2019re trying to think more about performance in general,\u201d one Air Force official said. \u201cIf a contact occurs, it should be reported. Therefore, there should be zero [undetected contacts of the receptacle].\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Unlike the KC-135 and KC-10, where boom operators sit (or in the KC-135\u2019s case, lay down) in a pod near the back of the tanker and look out a window as they guide the boom toward a receiver aircraft, KC-46 boom operators sit in a station at the front of the plane, close to the cockpit. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">With no windows to look out, KC-46 boom operators are completely dependent on the aircraft\u2019s seven cameras \u2014 three panoramic cameras and four boom cameras \u2014 which provide electro-optical and thermal imagery in a stereoscopic display. For that reason, the visual acuity of the RVS is critical to the success of the boom operator being able to complete tasks efficiently and safely.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Russell said Boeing has made three major enhancements to the RVS:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>Make it more intuitive for the operator to adjust the camera settings.<\/li><li>Provide \u201creal-time\u201d tools that tell the operator how they can augment image quality in certain weather or lighting conditions.<\/li><li>Retune the camera system to improve imaging when the light is at certain angles.<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Sean Martin, the company\u2019s chief air-refueling operator and a former KC-135 boom operator for the Air Force, emphasized that the RVS produces clear imagery most of the time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cIt\u2019s easy for this discussion to sound like we\u2019re totally reinventing our cameras and we\u2019re out there trying to solve a really difficult problem. What we\u2019re talking about, its probably in the area of about 5 to 8 percent of all of the aerial refueling we do,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Because Boeing is locked into a fixed-price contract that makes it responsible for paying any costs above the $4.9 billion award value, it has had to use its own funding to pay for improvements to the RVS. Gibbons declined to comment on how much the company is investing on the system.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">However, Gibbons and Martin stressed that the Air Force\u2019s original requirement for the system, written almost a decade ago, left much up to interpretation. For instance, the RVS requirement calls for a system with \u201csufficient visual acuity to be able to perform aerial refueling in all conditions,\u201d a qualitative description that doesn\u2019t lay out exact parameters.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The requirements also included no information on the acceptable number of undetected contacts, Gibbons said. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"942\" height=\"628\" src=\"\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/KC-46-tarmac-1.jpg.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-116645\" srcset=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/KC-46-tarmac-1.jpg.jpg 942w, https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/KC-46-tarmac-1.jpg.jpg?resize=300,200 300w, https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/KC-46-tarmac-1.jpg.jpg?resize=768,512 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 942px) 100vw, 942px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">A KC-46 Pegasus test aircraft sits on the ramp at Boeing Field in Seattle. (Jeff Martin\/Staff)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">That may be why Leanne Caret, the head of Boeing\u2019s defense business, said the company\u2019s most significant lesson learned during the course of the program is that all parties need to make sure they\u2019re on the same page in regard to requirements.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cHow do you define the spec appropriately? How do you make certain from a verification and a validation perspective that the intent as well as the exactness of it is there?\u201d she told reporters May 3.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">One Air Force official pushed back on those criticisms, saying that operators have the latitude to write deficiency reports for poor performance during testing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cOperators, as they\u2019re going through flight tests, as we\u2019re collecting all the test data, they can write a DR [deficiency report] if they have an overarching concern about what they\u2019re seeing in flight tests,\u201d the source said. \u201cIt doesn\u2019t necessarily have to be tied exactly to a spec requirement.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><b>Fixing the centerline drogue issue<\/b><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Boeing will contend with one other category-1 deficiency this summer: a problem with the centerline drogue system, or CDS.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The KC-46 is built with a mechanical lock on its CDS that will attach to a receiver aircraft and will release when tension between the tanker and the receiver exceeds a poundage rate in excess of 620 pounds, Gibbons said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">However, there have been cases when it unintentionally unlocks, such as when the tanker is flying at high speeds.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The problem can easily be rectified by refining the software that controls the tension of the drogue, but that entails gathering more flight data.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cThere\u2019s a simple fix here, and Boeing is going to fix it. It\u2019s just [a matter of] when are we going to fix it,\u201d Gibbons said. \u201cWe and the Air Force have agreed \u2026 for a while that the right time to do that is after we gather sufficient flight test information from some of these drogue contacts, go in and update the software, and then we\u2019ll roll it in through the summer and test it out again.\u201d <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>A fix to the infamous &#8220;boom scraping&#8221; issue is on the way. How will the U.S. Air Force react?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":116412,"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":{"4":{"categories":["your-air-force","news","daily-news-roundup","newsletters"],"primary_category":"your-air-force"}}},"categories":[7,160,12,36],"tags":[],"coauthors":[3384],"class_list":["post-61731","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-air","category-daily-news-roundup","category-industry","category-newsletters"],"acf":{"subheadline":"","legacy_arc_id":"CRPLRFA4I5G3DLTVTPKCTWNVDY","arc_canonical_url":"\/air\/2018\/05\/09\/remember-that-list-of-kc-46-problems-heres-how-theyre-getting-fixed\/","remove_feature_photo":true,"is_sponsored":false,"subtype":"","redirect_url":"","disable_inline_ads":false,"native_logo_pretext":"Presented By:"},"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v26.0 (Yoast SEO v28.1) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-premium-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Remember that list of KC-46 problems? Here\u2019s how they\u2019re getting fixed. - Defense News<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"A fix to the infamous &quot;boom scraping&quot; issue is on the way. How will the U.S. Air Force react?\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"noindex, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Remember that list of KC-46 problems? Here\u2019s how they\u2019re getting fixed.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"A fix to the infamous &quot;boom scraping&quot; issue is on the way. How will the U.S. Air Force react?\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/air\/2018\/05\/09\/remember-that-list-of-kc-46-problems-heres-how-theyre-getting-fixed\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Defense News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2018-05-09T20:11:33+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-08-08T00:38:03+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Valerie Insinna\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Valerie Insinna\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"7 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\n\t    \"@context\": \"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\n\t    \"@graph\": [\n\t        {\n\t            \"@type\": \"Article\",\n\t            \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/defensenews\\\/air\\\/2018\\\/05\\\/09\\\/remember-that-list-of-kc-46-problems-heres-how-theyre-getting-fixed\\\/#article\",\n\t            \"isPartOf\": {\n\t                \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/defensenews\\\/air\\\/2018\\\/05\\\/09\\\/remember-that-list-of-kc-46-problems-heres-how-theyre-getting-fixed\\\/\"\n\t            },\n\t            \"author\": {\n\t                \"name\": \"migration\",\n\t                \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/defensenews\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/cc76c831bb37a926738c8391fca7a3b1\"\n\t            },\n\t            \"headline\": \"Remember that list of KC-46 problems? 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