Boeing has secured another US Air Force (USAF) production contract for KC-46A Pegasus aerial refuelling jets, a $2.4 billion order covering 15 aircraft.
The Pentagon confirmed the latest KC-46A order on 25 November, noting work on the 15 jets under production Lot 12 is expected to be complete by the middle of 2029.
Boeing says it now has 183 KC-46As on contract worldwide, although that number is expected to increase significantly after the USAF approved a new acquisition strategy that calls for a total potential fleet of 263 KC-46s for the service.
The latest Lot 12 contract is significant for Boeing, as the USAF had temporarily halted KC-46 deliveries in March after discovering structural cracks in newly built jets that Boeing was preparing to turn over.
The issue was not assessed to be a flight safety concern, according to Boeing and the USAF. Deliveries resumed two months later, in May.
“Getting on contract helps ensure production stability, including [for] our long-lead supply chain, to continue delivering the unmatched capability of the KC-46A,” said Boeing KC-46 programme manager Jake Kwasnik on 25 November.
Currently, 98 of the 767-based tankers are in service with the USAF, and six are flying for the Japan Air Self-Defense Force. Israel also has plans to field six KC-46As.
Boeing recently completed the first flight of a KC-46A equipped with the Remote Vision System (RVS) 2.0, a revised system that operates the tanker’s fuel transfer boom and is meant to correct deficiencies with the current RVS.
Despite that and other issues related to the stiffness of the KC-46’s fuel-transfer boom and its cargo load planning software, the USAF has been operating the tankers on frontline duty since 2022.
