The U.S. Air Force awarded Boeing a $2.3 billion contract for the ninth production batch of 15 KC-46A Pegasus tanker aircraft. To date, the USAF has contracted for 128 KC-46A Pegasus, of which 68 have already been delivered and operationally deployed worldwide.
The KC-46A is transforming the role of tanker aircraft in the 21st century,» stated James Burgess, vice president and KC-46 program manager, «We’re proud to work side-by-side with the Air Force ensuring the Pegasus provides unmatched capabilities and continues to evolve for the U.S. and its allies’ global mission needs.»
The Pegasus provides fuel, as well as cargo, personnel and aeromedical transport for joint forces’ rapid mobility, global reach and agile combat employment. It will also function as a high-speed communications relay, supplementing (t) the satellite communications network.
Last year, the U.S. Air Force Air Mobility Command approved the KC-46A for global operations, including combat deployment. The Pegasus continues to demonstrate its agile combat employment capabilities, recently completing a 42-hour endurance flight supporting a USAF bomber force mission in the Indo-Pacific region.
During 2022, KC-46 aircraft operating in a series of global employment exercises in the European theater, the Indo-Pacific region and in the Middle East maintained a flight readiness rate of more than 95%, demonstrating the aircraft’s reliability and combat worthiness.
See also: Italy is negotiating the purchase of six Boeing KC-46A tankers
Boeing has 138 KC-46A Pegasus tankers under contract worldwide. Boeing has delivered two of six KC-46 tankers to the Japan Air Self-Defense Force, and has a contract for four Pegasus tankers for the Israel Air Force.
