A Boeing’s KC-46 tanker conducts a refueling test in July 2016 with a C-17 Globemaster III aircraft. (Photo courtesy Boeing)
Paul WeathermanShow MoreShow Less2of4A new tanker will replace the Air Force's aging KC-135 Stratotanker fleet that refuels other aircraft in flight to extend their reach and capabilities.U.S. AIR FORCEShow MoreShow Less3of4
Staff Sgt. Nick Moore, with the 186th Air Refueling Wing, operates the boom on the back of a KC-135 Stratotanker while refueling an F-16 from the 138th Fighter Wing over the Gulf of Mexico. The Boeing K-46 Pegasus program could reach $44 billion in total revenues for Boeing, with the plane slated to replace the Air Force’s existing fleet of KC-135 Stratotankers.
Mark Mulligan/Houston ChronicleShow MoreShow Less4of4A KC-135 Stratotanker from the 186th Air Refueling Wing and an F-16 from the 138th Fighter Wing sit at Ellington Field in Houston. The Boeing K-46 Pegasus program could reach $44 billion in total revenues for Boeing, with the plane slated to replace the Air Force’s existing fleet of KC-135 Stratotankers.Houston ChronicleShow MoreShow Less
The U.S. Air Force accepted the first delivery of Boeing’s new Pegasus aerial tanker, with the intent of purchasing nearly 180 aircraft each equipped with two jet engines built by the East Hartford-based Pratt & Whitney subsidiary of United Technologies.
The Boeing KC-46 Pegasus program could reach $44 billion in total revenues for Boeing, with the plane slated to replace the Air Force’s existing fleet of KC-135 Stratotankers. According to Bloomberg News, the program had been delayed after technical problems with cameras used to assist in aerial refueling.
Boeing is equipping the jets with Pratt & Whitney’s PW4062 engine, part of a new generation of engines that competes with those from the Evendale, Ohio-based GE Aviation division of General Electric and with the United Kingdom-based Rolls Royce.