The U.S. Air Force announced recently that it had negotiated terms with Boeing Company to upgrade the KC-46 Pegasus tanker and accelerate its delivery to the fleet.
Officials said the plan looks at three different areas of impact – repurposing early-built aircraft for immediate operational impact, accelerating the Remote Vision System 2.0 retrofit schedule, and implementing a targeted performance-based logistics effort.
“The KC-46 is a cornerstone of U.S. power projection, and we are proactively partnering with Boeing to ensure it is always ready to deliver,” Secretary of the Air Force Troy Meink said. “By establishing this multi-pronged approach, we are directly improving aircraft availability, accelerating the delivery of vital new capabilities and significantly enhancing the overall supportability of the fleet.”
The Air Force said the plan, when combined with the Fiscal Year 2027 Presidential Budget Request, will increase KC-46 aircraft availability, and will unlock critical material and establish limited performance-based logistics to ensure to both near- and long-term readiness.
“This is a decisive step forward for the KC-46 enterprise,” William Bailey, who performs the duties of the Assistant Secretary of the Air Force for Acquisition, Technology, and Logistics. “This partnership secures Boeing’s continued investment in both KC-46 readiness as well as the production line, effectively lowering risk for our transition to the KC-46 Production Extension and ensuring this critical mobility platform continues to flow to the warfighter without delay.”
Officials said the plan will provide a near-term aircraft availability boost of approximately 6 percent, and a longer-term increase of 20 percent by 2030.