Contractor Provided Military Air-To-Air Refueling
Post# of 2306
There is no end in sight to the problems the US DoD is having in recapitalizing its Cold War era legacy tanker fleets with the KC-X, KC-Y and KC-Z programs.
The selected tanker for the KC-X program - the KC-46A - continues to be way behind schedule with multiple operational problems and manufacturing process quality issues.
With the US Navy not having sufficient "probe-and-drogue" tankers to meet its requirements, USAF "flying boom" tankers with suitable adaptors on the flying boom and / or underwing refueling pods have to be used. With the USAF tanker fleet recapitalization taking 20 to 30 years to complete, any suitable contractor provided solution that can partly alleviate the shortage in capacity is likely to be taken up way into the future.
Extracts from the latest article dated July 24, 2019:
"After years of technical and production problems, cost overruns and schedule delays afflicting Boeing’s KC-46 airborne tanker, the Air Force has lost patience with Boeing."
“The Air Force is withholding payments to protect our interests and incentivize Boeing to deliver KC-46s that meet all specification requirements in the contract.”
“To date, the Air Force has withheld approximately $360M from Boeing for KC-46s delivered so far.”
"The latest problems with Boeing’s KC-46 involve slack policing of Foreign Object Debris (FOD) on the Seattle production lines."
"When the Air Force announced it accepted delivery of the first KC-46 some 17 months late in January, it also declared that it might withhold up to $28 million per plane until Boeing fixes the crucial Remote Vision System, a combination of sensors and cameras which allows the boom operator to connect the tanker to the plane that needs gas. Sadly, the Rockwell Collins system doesn’t work well in certain light conditions."
https://breakingdefense.com/2019/07/air-force...i=75009369
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