6 new KC-46s for the Italian Air Force

The Italian Air Force has decided to start negotiating with Boeing to purchase 6 new Boeing KC-46A (called KC-767B in Italy) to replace the current 4 KC-767A.

The aircraft currently on the line will be exchanged to Boeing.

The Ministry of Defence’s choice was made in order to rationalise the flight line as there was an initial requirement for 2 additional tankers to those currently in service.

The cost of the contract is about $1.3 billion, including support from Boeing for 5 years.

itamilradar 

KC-46 and P-8 production line to reopen

Boeing will restart production of the P-8 and KC-46 on Monday after a three-week pause in operations spurred by the spread of the novel coronavirus in Washington state.
The company temporarily shut down operations in the Puget Sound region on March 25. Boeing’s sites in Washington focus primarily on the development and production of commercial airliners and militarized variants of those aircraft, such as the KC-46 tanker made in Everett and ­­the P-8 submarine hunting plane made in Renton.
defensenews

PRODUCTION OF US MILITARY PLANES KEEPS ON DESPITE COVID 19

The Pentagon has started a daily dialogue with its top vendors as it attempts to measure and mitigate the impact of the COVID-19 crisis on the defense industry. Meanwhile, Boeing and Lockheed Martin said production on major acquisition systems like the KC-46 tanker and F-35 strike fighter will continue.
Boeing has directed all staff who can telecommute during the pandemic to do so; however, production and fabrication on the KC-46, F-15, F/A-18, and T-7 continue, with enhanced hygiene on the production line.
Similarly, production of the F-35 will continue despite temporary line stoppages in Italy and Japan, and the Pentagon is staying in regular contact with its top vendors.
Italy’s F-35 Final Assembly and Check-Out (FACO) facility closed March 16 and 17 for a “deep cleaning,” according to a source familiar with the program, but production of parts and other line activities will resume on March 18. Japan’s F-35 FACO in Nagoya also was closed March 9-13, but is back up and running again, sources said. One reported that Nagoya, run by Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, was already well ahead of its production goals so there should be “no impact” from the temporary stand-down.
Lockheed is not anticipating “any significant impact on the supply chain” from its worldwide vendors, according to a source familiar with the program.
airforcemag

US Air Force hopes for major KC-46 fix by March

After more than a year of deliberations, the U.S. Air Force is hoping to have a fix in hand for the KC-46 tanker’s most critical technical problem by the end of March, the service’s top general told Defense News in an exclusive interview.
The hope is for the Air Force and Boeing to sign off next month on a finalized design for the KC-46’s Remote Vision System, or RVS — a series of cameras and sensors that allow its users to steer the aircraft’s boom into a plane for aerial refueling.
For several years, the KC-46 program has grappled with a critical deficiency involving the RVS, which is manufactured by Rockwell Collins. Under certain lighting conditions, the imagery is difficult to see and sometimes distorted, making it difficult for operators to safely move the boom without scraping the aircraft receiving fuel.
defensenews

Eighth KC-46A Pegasus tanker aircraft to the U.S. Air Force

Boeing said on 20 April that it has delivered the eighth KC-46A Pegasus tanker aircraft to the U.S. Air Force.
McConnell houses Airmen that are certified on both the KC-135 and the KC-46. Even with the addition of the KC-46, the fuel shop will continue to maintain the KC-135.
defence-blog

USAF To Receive first KC-46 in Mid-November

McConnell Air Force Base is gearing up for an event next month to mark the arrival of its first Boeing KC-46 air refueling tanker, though Boeing and McConnell officials aren’t confirming it as a delivery date.
kansas.com

Boeing won’t deliver first USAF'S KC-46 aerial-refueling tanker by month’s end as agreed

Boeing won’t deliver its first KC-46 aerial-refueling tanker by month’s end as it had agreed, according to U.S. Air Force Secretary Heather Wilson, the latest in a procession of missed deadlines since the company won the contract in 2011.
Air Force officials met with the plane maker Wednesday “to try to lay down the path forward for delivery and to make sure the deficiencies that have been identified are taken care of in a way that brings that aircraft in as promised,” Wilson told editors and reporters in a round-table at Bloomberg headquarters in New York.
The Air Force and Boeing had anticipated delivery Oct. 27 of the first of the tankers, supposedly settling a disagreement over timing for the much-delayed $44.3 billion program. That first of 179 tankers was originally supposed to be delivered in April to June of 2016.
While the tanker still has unresolved deficiencies with its system for midair refueling, the latest delivery date “slippage really was directly attributable” to the need to wait for certification by the Federal Aviation Administration in September that the aircraft’s refueling and mission avionics system met agency standards, Wilson said. It was “a little later than they expected,” she said of Boeing.
seattletimes

Boeing set to deliver first KC-46 aerial tanker to USAF in October

Boeing has reached an agreement with the US Air Force to deliver its first KC-46 Pegasus tanker in October 2018.
The Chicago-based aerospace manufacturer was contracted to deliver the first batch of 18 KC-46s by August 2017 but missed that deadline after having production issues. The USAF said it now expects that the first 18 aircraft will be delivered by April 2019.
This agreement paves the way for delivery of the first new tanker to the USAF 16.5 years after the US Senate first proposed a replacement plan for the Boeing KC-135 Stratotanker, a 1950s-era tanker.
The first KC-46 will be delivered to McConnell Air Force Base in Kansas. Then, aircraft will be delivered to Altus AFB in Oklahoma and Pease AFB in New Hampshire. Boeing said it now has 43 aircraft in some stage of production, including 34 aircraft which are now in the final stages of build.
flightglobal

US Air Force adds new deficiencies to KC-46’s list of problems

The U.S. Air Force’s troubled KC-46 tanker program has hit another bump, adding two of the most serious types of deficiencies yet to the list of problems manufacturer Boeing needs to fix.
The service on Thursday evening disclosed two “category one” deficiencies involving the remote vision system and centerline drogue systems.
defensenews

USAF’s KC-46 tanker is almost ready for prime time

The head of Air Mobility Command said the KC-46 Pegasus is about 94 percent complete with tests needed for the aircraft’s second — and final — FAA certification.
Gen. Carlton Everhart visited Boeing in Washington state to get a hands-on look at the Air Force’s new refueling tanker.
“If everything stays on track and the weather holds, I think [Boeing and the Federal Aviation Administration] can probably get everything done in the next 60 to 70 days, hopefully less,” Everhart told Air Force Times on Wednesday after flying on the KC-46 for the first time.
In December, the FAA certified the 767-2C, which is the modified 767 commercial plane that forms the basis of the KC-46.
airforcetimes

Indonesia puts KC-46A Pegasus, Airbus A330 MRTT on frame for aerial tanker requirement

The Indonesian Air Force (Tentara Nasional Indonesia – Angkatan Udara) has begun a study to expand the service’s aerial refuelling capabilities, with a view on establishing a formal acquisition programme for two airframes by 2024.
The aircraft types that are being compared in this study are the A330 multirole tanker-transport (MRTT) from Airbus, and what the Indonesians allude to as a militarised version of the Boeing 767 tanker, in reference to the KC-46A Pegasus.
Issues that will be scrutinised in the study include suitability for Indonesian operational requirements, compatibility of refuelling methods with the TNI-AU’s fleet of aircraft, interoperability with existing and future assets, and life-cycle costs.
Prior to June 2015, the TNI-AU operated a fleet of two pod-equipped KC-130Bs, which were delivered in the early 1960s. One of these aircraft crashed in Medan on 30 June of that year after developing engine troubles, and since then the TNI-AU has had to rely on a single airframe of the type for its aerial refueling needs.
janes

Japan signs for KC-46A tanker

Boeing has secured up its first international customer for the KC-46A Pegasus tanker, with the announcement that Japan has signed up for a single aircraft.
The Foreign Military Sale (FMS) is valued at USD279 million and was announced by Boeing on 22 December. As well as one KC-46A, the contract covers support.
Japan selected the KC-46A under its KC-X aerial refuelling competition in October 2015. The Japan Air Self-Defense Force (JASDF) is looking to acquire four new tankers to augment its current fleet of four Boeing KC-767J platforms. The sale of four KC-46As to Japan was approved by the US government in September 2016. The total value was given at that time as USD1.9 billion.
While the latest contract announcement did not provide a delivery timeline, the earlier KC-X announcement called for the first aircraft to be received by the JASDF in 2020. With delays to Boeing’s programme to deliver up to 179 KC-46As to the US Air Force (USAF), it is likely that this initial schedule will be pushed back.
janes

First KC-46A Tanker for U.S. Air Force Completes First Flight

The first Boeing KC-46A tanker that will be delivered to the U.S. Air Force next year successfully completed its first flight and airborne tests today, taking off from Paine Field at 10:32 a.m. PST and landing approximately three-and-one-half hours later.
“Today’s flight is another milestone for the Air Force/Boeing team and helps move us closer to delivering operational aircraft to the warfighter,” said Col. John Newberry, U.S. Air Force KC-46 System program manager.
During the flight, Boeing test pilots took the tanker to a maximum altitude of 39,000 feet and performed operational checks on engines, flight controls and environmental systems as part of the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA)-approved flight profile. Prior to subsequent flights, the team will conduct a post-flight inspection and calibrate instrumentation.
“We’re very proud of this aircraft and the state-of-the-art capabilities it will bring to the Air Force,” said Mike Gibbons, Boeing KC-46A tanker vice president and program manager. “We still have some tough work ahead of us, including completing our FAA certification activities, but the team is committed to ensure that upon delivery, this tanker will be everything our customer expects and more.”
The newest tanker is the KC-46 program’s seventh aircraft to fly to date. The previous six are being used for testing and certification and to date have completed 2,200 flight hours and more than 1,600 “contacts” during refueling flights with F-16, F/A-18, AV-8B, C-17, A-10, KC-10 and KC-46 aircraft.
The KC-46, derived from Boeing’s commercial 767 airframe, is built in the company’s Everett facility. Boeing is currently on contract for the first 34 of an expected 179 tankers for the U.S. Air Force.
The KC-46A is a multirole tanker that can refuel all allied and coalition military aircraft compatible with international aerial refueling procedures and can carry passengers, cargo and patients.
boeing.mediaroom

KC-46 schedule unlikely to go as planned

Based on the tanker replacement programme’s history, its current schedule is “aggressive and unlikely to be executed as planned,” Michael Gilmore wrote in his annual report. In a prime example of schedule delay, the US Air Force had planned to complete 66% of testing by the end of the engineering, manufacturing and development phase. By the beginning of low-rate production last August though, Boeing had completed only 30% of EMD testing, the report states.
When Gilmore’s office approved a test and evaluation master plan in November 2016 that would support KC-46’s entrance into low-rate production that August, it did so with lingering concerns about leaving enough time to correct discrepancies between the end of developmental testing and the beginning of initial operational test and evaluation, he writes.
“Execution of the current schedule assumes historically unrealistic test aircraft fly and re-fly rates,” Gilmore writes.
Though the programme is on track to become an effective aerial refueling platform, several capabilities still require correcting or additional testing. During testing last January, Boeing discovered higher than expected axial loads on the tanker’s refueling boom. That pushed Boeing’s scheduled low-rate initial production decision from June to August while Boeing redesigned the boom control system.
Boeing implemented a hardware-based solution for the refueling issue, which involved inserting two bypass valves in the fly-by-wire-controlled boom to relieve the aerodynamic pressure. However, the current boom represent a prototype rather than a production-ready design.
Last year, the KC-46 successfully refueled a USAF A-10, allowing the programme to move ahead toward initial production. Boeing also demonstrated aerial refueling with the the US Navy’s F/A-18 and AV-8B using the centreline and wing drogue systems and the KC-46 as a receiver aircraft. The company also completed refueling demonstrations on the C-17 airlifter and F-16 using the aerial refueling boom. But Gilmore notes Boeing has only performed daylight refueling operations and none of the aircraft have been certified as receiving platforms.
flightglobal

US State Department Clears Sale of KC-46A Tankers to Japan

The US State Department on Wednesday approved a potential $1.9 billion sale of KC-46A refueling tankers to Japan, moving Boeing one step closer to finalizing its first international deal for the aircraft.
According to a Defense Security Cooperation Agency notice, the proposed deal includes four KC-46A aircraft, the associated Pratt & Whitney Model 4062 engines needed to power the plane, plus one additional spare. Japan would also receive training and support as part of the agreement.
Those aircraft will be equipped with the ALR-69A Radar Warning Receiver and Miniaturized Airborne GPS Receiver — both from Raytheon — as well as Northrop Grumman's AN/AAQ-24(V) Large Aircraft Infrared Countermeasures system.
Japan announced its intention to buy the KC-46 last October. The agreement was a major coup for Boeing, which has fought to find its first foreign customer for the tanker.
defensenews

Boeing Will not Deliver 18 KC-46 Tanker To USAF In 2018 As Innitially Planned

Boeing’s KC-46 tanker program will miss a major contractual deadline to deliver 18 ready-to-go aircraft to the US Air Force next year.
Due to ongoing issues with the KC-46’s refueling systems, Boeing will not be able to deliver the 18 certified tankers to the Air Force as planned by August 2017, a major contractual obligation known as Required Assets Available, or RAA.
It is unclear what impact this delay will have on Boeing's contract to replace the Air Force's aging KC-135s. Both company and service officials said they are continuing to assess the implications.
defensenews

Boeing racing clock to deliver 18 KC-46 tankers by next August

The narrow window for Boeing to deliver 18 operational KC-46A Pegasus tankers to the US Air Force by August 2017 includes little to no room for error and a series of tests and events must go right to achieve that significant contractual milestone.
flightglobal

Boeing’s KC-46 Successfully Refuels F/A-18

Boeing’s KC-46 tanker successfully refueled a Navy F/A-18 aircraft in the skies above Washington state on Feb. 10, according to the company.
The event was the KC-46’s first refueling using its hose and drogue system, according to a Feb. 12 Boeing news release.
This is the second time the KC-46, a militarized version of Boeing’s 767 commercial jet, has successfully refueled another aircraft. In January, the aircraft transferred 1,600 pounds of fuel to an Air Force F-16 fighter jet using its “boom.”
defensenews

US Air Force Cuts Five F-35 Fighter Jets From Budget Request

The Air Force reduced the F-35A buy in FY-17 from a planned 48 aircraft to just 43, while fully funding the Long Range Strike-Bomber and KC-46 tanker. It is not clear if the Air Force will reduce the overall planned buy of 1,763 aircraft. These figures do not take into account the total F-35 buy across the US armed services or purchases by international partners.
The cut was purely budget driven, the source said, as the F-35 joint strike fighter program has made strides in recent years. The Marine Corps declared initial operational capability on time last summer with its F-35Bs, and the Air Force is on track to do the same with its conventional takeoff and landing F-35A this summer.
The F-35A cut is not a surprise. Analysts and top government officials have hinted for months that changes could be ahead for the JSF as part of the Pentagon’s effort to balance its books.
Cutting F-35As in FY17 will likely yield millions in savings over the next several years. The Air Force planned to buy 44 F-35As in FY16 and 48 in FY17, before ramping up to 60 a year starting in FY18. But reducing that to 48 a year would free up approximately $1 billion per year for other priorities.
defensenews

KC-46 Tanker Completes First Refueling Flight

Boeing’s KC-46 tanker marked a key milestone Sunday by successfully completing its first aerial refueling test.
During the Jan. 24 flight, the Boeing and US Air Force test team completed a series of test points with the aircraft before successfully transferring 1,600 pounds of fuel to an F-16 fighter jet. The KC-46, took off from Boeing Field in Seattle, Washington.
During the 5 hour, 43 minute flight, the tanker’s refueling “boom” – a rigid, telescoping tube that an operator on the aircraft extends and inserts into a receptacle on the receiving aircraft for fuel transfer – remained stable and performed well, the statement reads.
defensenews