Air Force, Boeing Fly KC-46A Refueling Aircraft on Maiden Voyage

Boeing’s first fully equipped KC-46A aerial tanker completed a four-hour inaugural flight on Friday, a milestone for the USD$49 billion aircraft that has run into cost and scheduling issues in recent years. The Boeing and US Air Force have tested a KC-46A tanker aircraft today.

Boeing said its test pilots flew the tanker aircraft up to 35,000 feet as they evaluated the performance of its engine, flight control and environmental systems during the maiden voyage. “After a slight delay due to weather, the test aircraft took off in the early afternoon and landed four hours later at Boeing Field in Seattle, Washington, according to a company statement”.

“This first tanker flight is a key milestone for the program and we’ll now begin free air stability tests and flight controls of the boom and wing aerial refueling pods (WARPs) before conducting aerial refueling tests where the KC-46 will make contact with other military aircraft down the road”, he said.

“This flight represents progress and brings us a step closer to fielding this much-needed aircraft”, Air Force Secretary Deborah Lee James said in a statement.

The Boeing team now will conduct a post-flight inspection and calibrate instrumentation prior to the next series of flights, during which the tanker boom and WARPs systems will be deployed.

The Air Force could still be prevented from awarding Boeing an LRIP contract, however, if the U.S. Congress in the coming days passes a lengthy “continuing resolution” instead of a budget, which would limit the government to prior-year funding. The program expects to begin aerial refueling demonstration flights with different aircraft types, including the F-16, C-17, F/A-18, A-10, AV-8B and a receiver KC-46A, by the end of the year.

The KC-46A is a multirole tanker that the company is building for the USAF that can refuel all allied and coalition military aircraft compatible with global aerial refueling procedures and can carry passengers, cargo, and patients.