The newly signed contract is for the ninth production lot of 15 Boeing KC-46A Pegasus tanker aircraft for the U.S. Air Force.
Boeing has announced that the company secured a defence contract worth $2.3 billion from The U.S. Air Force. The newly signed contract is for the ninth production lot of 15 Boeing KC-46A Pegasus tanker aircraft for the U.S. Air Force. The U.S. will be expanding its fleet of the world’s most advanced multi-mission aerial refuelers. Currently, there are 128 KC-46A Pegasus aircraft on contract with the U.S. Air Force, with 68 delivered and operationally deployed around the globe.
The KC-46A Pegasus jet delivers crucial fuel and data for the fleet, as well as cargo, personnel and aeromedical transportation for joint force rapid mobility, global reach and agile combat employment. In 2022, the U.S. Air Force Air Mobility Command approved the KC-46A for global operations including combat deployment. The Pegasus continues to further demonstrate its agile combat employment capabilities after recently completing a 42-hour endurance flight supporting a U.S. Air Force Bomber Task Force mission in the Indo-Pacific region.
“The combat-ready KC-46A is transforming the role of the tanker for the 21st century,” said James Burgess, vice president and KC-46 program manager, Boeing. “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,” he further.
As a global aerospace company, Boeing develops, manufactures and services commercial airplanes, defense products and space systems for customers in more than 150 countries. During 2022, KC-46A aircraft operating in a series of U.S. Air Force global employment exercises in the European theater, Indo-Pacific region and the Middle East performed at a greater than 95% mission capable rate, demonstrating the aircraft’s reliability and combat readiness.
Boeing builds KC-46A aircraft on the 767 production line in Everett, Wash., U.S. supported by a supplier network of about 37,000 American workers employed by more than 650 businesses throughout more than 40 U.S. states. With Boeing’s in-line production, the KC-46A is designed and built as a tanker and not a post-production conversion making the Pegasus uniquely suited to integrate advanced technology for fleet data connectivity and combat-ready defensive features, as well as new capabilities as the needs of the mission evolved.
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Boeing is currently on contract for 138 KC-46A Pegasus tanker jets globally. Boeing has delivered two of six KC-46A tankers to the Japan Air Self-Defense Force and is on contract for four KC-46A tankers for the Israel Air Force. The expanding global fleet creates commonality and interoperability efficiencies and mission-readiness advantages for the U.S. Air Force and its allies.
