USAF KC-17 Tankers: Where are They?
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- Опубліковано 30 вер 2024
- KC-17s? USAF Air Tanker Fleet Dying; KC-46es Flimsy Airliners Can't Haul PAX & Cargo
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TRANSCOM head pushes back against Air Force tanker retirements
Joe Gould and Valerie Insinna
WASHINGTON ― The head of U.S. Transportation Command is pushing the Air Force to rethink some of its controversial plans to retire some of its older aerial refueling aircraft, and leaders inside the Pentagon are paying close attention.
Amid delays in fielding the Boeing KC-46 tanker due to technical problems and high demand for aerial refueling, TRANSCOM’s Gen. Stephen Lyons testified he is making a case to the Air Force to scrap its proposal to retire 13 KC-135 and 10 KC-10 tankers in fiscal 2021. Those aircraft, Lyons said during a Senate Armed Services Committee hearing, “must be retained.”
After the Senate Armed Services Committee hearing, Lyons told reporters a solution is close after meetings that included Deputy Defense Secretary David Norquist, Joint Chiefs Vice Chairman Gen. John Hyten and Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. David Goldfein.
“We’re all clear eyed about the degradation to the joint force and the operational risk,” Lyons said. “To the senators’ questions, ‘What do we do?’ That’s the big question. Whether it becomes a mark in this budget or a reprogramming action, we’re attempting to retain those aircraft to mitigate that deep bathtub [in capability] that occurs with the KC-46 conversion.”
U.S. Air Force restricts KC-46 from carrying cargo and passengers
The KC-46 has added another critical deficiency to the list, and it's the most serious problem yet.
During the hearing, Lyons fielded questions about the impact of KC-46 delays from a handful of supportive lawmakers, to include SASC Chairman Jim Inhofe, R-Okla., who said he planned to Air Force officials when they appear before the panel. Inhofe and other lawmakers pointed to affected Air Force aerial refueling wings in their states.
“Aerial refueling as a force element is one of the most stressed element in the TRANSCOM portfolio, both for day-to-day operations and for high-end operations,” Lyons told the panel, adding that because the KC-46, “is not usable” in an operational environment, there could be “a dip in operational capability for the joint force,” over as many as seven years.
At one point, Sen. Angus King, I-Maine, pressed Lyons to present a detailed analysis of the capability gaps and propose a solution.
“I want to know: what’s the plan. We can’t project force if we can’t refuel those airplanes ... For the record, I’d like to see an action plan, not just a reevaluation,” King said, adding, “If we have crisis and need that capacity, saying, ‘Well, it was a complicated problem,’ isn’t going to cut it."
Lyons agreed to return with a joint Air Force plan. Meanwhile, he said, the service has already agreed TRANSCOM would retain 28 legacy aircraft to mitigate the effects of the conversion to the KC-46. TRANSCOM has been working through shortfalls in both aircraft and aircrews.
“Its a very complex program for the Air Force to work and they’re pushing as hard as they can with Boeing,” he said.
The testimony came days after the command advocated reversing the retirements of 13 KC-135 and 10 KC-10 tankers in its list of priorities unfunded by the president’s budget request ― a move that would almost completely roll back the Air Force’s proposal to retire 13 KC-135s and 16 KC-10s in FY21.
TRANSCOM projected the cost to retain the 23 tankers at $110 million, and said that their retirements would create “a capacity bathtub” and limit options for military mobilization if military leaders were “confronted with a crisis.”
Even though the Air Force is accepting deliveries of the KC-46, its leaders have made clear that the service will not utilize its newest tanker in combat until the Remote Vision System - a series of cameras used to steer the boom into another aircraft’s refueling receptacle - is brought up to the service’s specifications.
Defense News reported that the Air Force is hoping to have a fix in hand for the KC-46 tanker’s most critical technical problem by the end of March.
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The usaf should have a KC-33A but calked the KC-28A based off the boeing 747-800 in my opinion
The Case for USAF KC-17 Air Tankers
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Airborne!
Staff
1st Tactical Studies Group (Airborne)
Just too good to ignore.
The KC17 could be an excellent Air NG platform at the very least.
USAF National Guard units are mandated to support national humanitarian relief operations(where applicable).
In Europe, we have the A400M. Any A400M can be an air fuel supply plane.
KC-17 sounds like really good idea.
Gotta ask. How is it possible to be an NCO & Officer in both USMC and US Army as you claim?
FACT. You walk your DD214 over to the ENLISTED recruiter and then once in the new service, submit paperwork as OFFICER---again. You should try it (joining the USMIL) so you'll know from YOUR OWN, 1st hand experience. GRIN.