The KC-46A wide body multi mission tanker is intended to replace the U.S. Air Force's aging fleet of KC-135 Stratotankers which has...
The KC-46A wide body multi mission tanker is intended to replace the U.S. Air Force's aging fleet of KC-135 Stratotankers which has been the primary refueling aircraft for more than 50 years. With more refueling capacity and enhanced capabilities, improved efficiency and increased capabilities for cargo and aeromedical evacuation, the KC-46A will provide aerial refueling support to the Air Force, Navy, Marine Corps as well as allied nation coalition force aircraft.The Air Force contracted with Boeing in February 2011 to acquire 179 KC-46 tankers to begin recapitalizing the KC-135 Stratotanker fleet. The initial delivery target is for 18 tankers by 2017. Production will then ramp up to deliver all 179 tankers by 2028.
The KC-46 is a commercial derivative based on the Boeing 767-200, said Col. Shaun Morris, the KC-46 System program manager. When a new 767-2C is completed in the Boeing factory in Everett, Wash., it will be flown to Boeing facility in Puget Sound to complete the military modification that turns it into a KC-46.
The aircraft brings a wide range of new capabilities to the warfighter. It is 15 to 20 percent larger than the KC-135 and can carry 58 passengers, 54 aeromedical patients and 18 cargo pallets -- all substantially more than the legacy aircraft.
The KC-46A will be able to refuel any fixed-wing receiver capable aircraft on any mission. This aircraft is equipped with a modernized KC-10 refueling boom integrated with proven fly-by-wire control system and delivering a fuel offload rate required for large aircraft. In addition, the hose and drogue system adds additional mission capability that is independently operable from the refueling boom system.
Performance is also improved with the ability to perform boom and drogue refueling operations on the same sortie, though not simultaneously, using the 1200 gallon-per-minute fly-by-wire centerline boom or the 400 gallon-per-minute centerline drogue system. In addition, the KC-46 can be equipped with two 400 gallon-per-minute wing air refueling pods which can be used to refuel two aircraft simultaneously.
The new tanker will be fully capable of day and night operations and also be a receiver itself meaning it can be refueled in flight, which will improve loiter time -- all important characteristics offering increased flexibility for mission planners.
Inside the digital glass cockpit, pilots will find complete flight and weather data on 15-inch displays. Immediately behind at the boom operator station, 24-inch displays will offer a three-dimensional view just below multiple monitors that show a panoramic 185-degree field of view. Pilots will also be able to bring up refueling operations on cockpit displays.
Two high-bypass Pratt & Whitney 4062 turbofan engines, mounted under 34-degree swept wings, power the KC-46A to takeoff at gross weights up to 415,000 pounds
On the near horizon, the program office is looking to award a contract for the Aircrew Training System, which includes a KC-46 simulator. In 2014, the program office, in concert with Air Mobility Command officials, will begin serious initial requirements work on the second phase, known as KC-Y, of the three-phase program to replace more of the aging tanker fleet.
