The U.S. Air Force and Boeing announced on Friday that the final required flight tests are complete before the first KC-46A Pegasus tanker could be delivered to the military.
An Air Force release stated a test team made up of Air Force and Boeing personnel completed all required tests related to the aircraft's remote vision system, a point of concern for both the manufacturer and the military in recent months.
Other testing also was completed to clear the aircraft for an initial delivery that certified it can safely and reliably refuel F-16 Fighting Falcon and C-17 Globemaster III aircraft. The Pegasus already had been certified that it can accept fuel from a KC- 135.
The Pegasus' addition to the Air Force's fleet is important to Oklahomans. Pegasus aircrews will train at Altus Air Force Base, while the Air Logistics Center at Tinker Air Force Base will take care of the planes at a still-being-built maintenance center on the base's south side.
Delivery date is locked in
Officials said the successful completion of those test locks in a planned late October delivery date of the first KC-46A to the Air Force. The schedule also calls for an additional 17 aircraft to be delivered to the Air Force by April 2019.
Both Boeing and Air Force officials described Friday's announcement as a significant step forward for the $44 billion project awarded in 2011 to Boeing. The deal requires the manufacturer to provide the Air Force with 179 new tankers based on its 767-200 extended-range design.
"With this milestone complete, the test program has demonstrated a level of maturity that positions Boeing to deliver, and the Air Force to accept, an aircraft by the end of October," said Will Roper, assistant secretary of the Air Force for acquisition, technology and logistics.
Boeing and the Air Force also said Friday testing will continue to certify the Pegasus can safely and reliably refuel other Air Force, Allied and U.S. Navy aircraft and ultimately be declared mission ready. Operational testing for the aircraft is expected to begin in 2019.
Meanwhile, the manufacturer continues to work toward obtaining a Supplemental Type Certificate from the Federal Aviation Administration that approves the aircraft's military systems transforming the 767 into a tanker. Flight testing to obtain that certificate was completed in April.
New design is more flexible
The Pegasus is more flexible as a tanker because it carries both centerline boom and centerline drogue refueling systems as part of its basic configuration when it goes aloft. That means it can refuel Air Force, Navy, Marine and allied aircraft any time.
Completing required testing for a first delivery took some effort, especially because of concerns raised earlier this year related to the remote vision system, considered a centerpiece upgrade compared to the KC-135 and KC-10 tankers the Air Force uses now.
On current tankers, fueling system operators are required to work in aircraft tails to operate a boom or a drogue system connecting a tanker with an aircraft receiving fuel, viewing an evolution through a window.
On the Pegasus, however, the operator sits at a rear-facing, multiple screen console just behind the cockpit and uses a joystick and keyboard to control its boom and drogue systems using the remote vision system.
The system of seven cameras is capable of both day and night operations, using technology contractors previously developed for space-based operations.
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