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KC-46

Latest in KC-46

The U.S. Air Force's selection of Boeing's F-47 as the winner of its Next Generation Air Dominance (NGAD) combat jet competition raises new questions about plans for new stealthy aerial refueling tankers.
Air

F-47 Fighter Reveal Draws New Attention To USAF Stealth Tanker Plans

By Joseph Trevithick

Posted on Mar 24, 2025

F-35 Hill AFB
Air

F-35s From Hill AFB Arrive In England

By Howard Altman

Updated on Mar 20, 2025

The Air Force will inspect all 89 of its KC-46A Pegasus aerial refueling jets after cracks were found on two set for delivery to the Military Delivery Center.
Air

Cracks In KC-46 Tankers Halt All Deliveries

By Howard Altman

Updated on Mar 1, 2025

At least 20 U.S. Air Force tanker aircraft, 10 KC-46s and an equal number of KC-135s, supported the first day of the latest Bamboo Eagle exercise off the California Coast, according to online flight tracking data.
Air

Tankers Flood Airspace Off The California Coast For China-Focused Air Combat Exercise

By Joseph Trevithick

Posted on Feb 11, 2025

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) have provided an even better look at the previously highly secretive remote vision system that is central to the operation of the Israeli Air Force’s critical Boeing 707 tanker fleet. TWZ has previously looked at this system — used by the boom operator to see what is happening at the rear of the aircraft while connecting the boom with the receiving aircraft — but the actual operator interface has, as far as we know, never been seen in such detail.
Air

Our Best Look So Far Inside Israel’s Once Secretive 707 Tankers

By Thomas Newdick

Posted on Jan 7, 2025

Bill Kennedy, 436th Aircraft Maintenance Squadron transit alert, marshals a U.S. Air Force C-17 Globemaster III at Dover Air Force Base, Del., April 26, 2015. The aircraft is loaded with 69 members of the Fairfax County Urban Search and Rescue Team, their supplies and equipment, and six K-9s, to assist Nepal with rescue operations after the country was struck by a 7.8-magnitude earthquake.
Air

New Jersey Base Confirms Multiple Past Drone Incursions… By Contraband Smugglers

By Thomas Newdick, Howard Altman

Posted on Dec 18, 2024

KC-10 Extender tail #86-0036 performs its final mission as it heads of to the 309th Aerospace Maintenance and Regeneration Group at Davis-Monthan Air Force Base, Ariz., following a July 13 ceremony at Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst, N.J., that marked the first retirement of 59 Extenders intended for eventual replacement by the KC-46A Pegasus. A total of three KC-10s from the Air Force’s Backup-Aircraft Inventory were congressionally approved for retirement during Fiscal Year 2020. As KC-10s are retired, the 309th AMARG will continue to support the remaining Extenders with spare parts as they are flown for several years while the KC-46A Pegasus is integrated into Air Mobility Command’s Total Force tanker enterprise. For nearly four decades, the KC-10 has helped secure global reach for America, providing in- flight refueling to U.S. and coalition aircraft, from Operations Desert Shield and Desert Storm to Operation Inherent Resolve. The KC- 10 is flown from JBMDL by both the 305th AMW and its associate Air Force Reserve unit, the 514th AMW.
Air

Final KC-10 Extender Tanker Flies Into Retirement

By Thomas Newdick

Posted on Sep 26, 2024

The U.S. Air Force recently awarded contracts to two companies for work on SHARK 'buddy store' podded aerial refueling systems able to work with aircraft that use the boom method to get gas in flight.
Air

Aerial Refueling Boom Pods That Could Go On F-15s In The Works

By Joseph Trevithick

Posted on Sep 3, 2024

KC-46 and F-15E had an incident resulting in the loss of the tanker's boom
Air

Audio Reveals Details Of KC-46 And F-15E Refueling Incident That Broke The Tanker’s Boom Off

By Thomas Newdick

Posted on Aug 23, 2024

KC-46 Airfield Marking Pattern
Air

KC-46 Expands Its Austere Airfield Capabilities, Could Include Roadways In Future

By Emma Helfrich

Posted on Mar 4, 2023

KC-46 Tanker Spotted With Puzzling Whitewashed Belly (Updated)
Air

KC-46 Tanker Spotted With Puzzling Whitewashed Belly (Updated)

By Joseph Trevithick

Posted on Aug 26, 2022

Boom KC46 Landing
Air

KC-46 Tanker Made Emergency Landing With Its Boom Deployed (Updated)

By Emma Helfrich

Posted on Aug 24, 2022

KC-46 single pilot operations
Air

Single Pilot KC-46 Tanker Operations Eyed By Air Force For Major Conflicts

By Joseph Trevithick

Posted on Jul 18, 2022

KC-46A aircraft assigned to the 157th Air Refueling Wing perform an elephant walk formation on the runway at Pease Air National Guard Base, Sept. 8, 2021.
Air

KC-46 Tanker’s Recent “97 Percent” Milestone Isn’t The Whole Story

By Joseph Trevithick

Posted on Jun 5, 2022

KC-46 longest flight
Air

KC-46 Crew Flies Air Mobility Command’s Longest Flight Ever

By Oliver Parken

Posted on May 10, 2022

E-4B ‘Doomsday Plane’ Dwarfs A KC-46 In These Stunning Refueling Shots
Air

E-4B ‘Doomsday Plane’ Dwarfs A KC-46 In These Stunning Refueling Shots

By Emma Helfrich, Tyler Rogoway

Posted on Apr 29, 2022