A F-16 flown by Maj Spencer Bell, 40th Flight Test Squadron test pilot, receives fuel from a KC-46 Pegasus, above, during a flutter mission at Eglin Air Force Base, Fla., on Dec. 12, 2019. (Tech. Sgt. John Raven/U.S. Air Force)
Warzone/The Drive: Air Force Says KC-46 Is A “Lemon” That It’s Trying To Make Lemonade Out Of
The Air Force is evaluating using the Pegasus for limited operational missions, but it’s still years away from providing its intended mission set.
The U.S. Air Force has described its bedeviled KC-46A Pegasus tanker as a “lemon,” amid ongoing problems that prevent it from performing its primary aerial refueling mission on a day-to-day basis. Now the Air Force is trying to find other ways to make use of these aircraft, of which it has already received 42 examples located at four operating bases.
With deliveries set to continue at a rate of two aircraft per month, the service is now looking to put the Pegasus to work by fast-tracking at least some of the aircraft already delivered into “limited operations,” but probably not involving its core mission set of aerial refueling. Nevertheless, the move could enable the Pegasus to at least provide some utility during real-world operations as the Air Force counts down to the declaration of full operational capability, which won’t happen until late 2023 or 2024 at the earliest.
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WNU Editor: What a way to describe this Air Force program .... "we’re making lemonade out of lemons” (Air Force General Jacqueline Van Ovost, Head of Air Mobility Command).
More News On The U.S. Air Force's KC-46A Pegasus Tanker Program
Air Force Hunts for Ways to Use Not-Quite-Ready Tankers -- Defense One
AMC Hopes To Wrap Analysis Of Next-Gen Tanker Options In 2022 -- Breaking Defense
USAF, Boeing Make Progress on KC-46 Fixes -- Air Force Magazines
US Air Force has a fix for two major KC-46 problems -- Defense News
The feedback control system cannot handle nonlaminar flow or the relative motion of the planes. Of course the aircraft themselves are creating turbulence. Problem of reaction time or damping.
ReplyDeleteAlso they did not lock down the technical data, which is a serious discipline problem of the organization (Perhaps they were in transgender training which is more important than systems engineering.) or they did not make as full scale version for testing on an air frame. They skipped a major test.
ReplyDeletemaybe they should have gone with the Airbus that actually won the competition and can carry cargo, instead of taking bribes
ReplyDeleteA strategic decision was made to to keep organic capability. That is organic to the country. That said the work force at Boeing looks like freak show at the colleges in America.
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ReplyDeleteWhy are they still being manufactured? Hey kids!!! Nap time!.
It was a Boeing engineer that got taken by a horse like Rep Swalwell got taken by Chinese spy Fang Fang.
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