The American Air Mobility Command allowed the KC-46A tanker aircraft to use the rod for refueling C-17 Globemaster III, B-52H Stratofortress and other KC-46 aircraft. Now he will be able to perform operational tasks, but not yet in combat missions.
The Boeing concern has been developing the KC-46A since 2012 on the basis of the cargo version of the Boeing 767 airliner. This aircraft can reach speeds of up to 920 kilometers per hour, cover a distance of up to 12.2 thousand kilometers and carry up to 92 tons of fuel. The US military is going to buy a total of 179 KC-46A tankers and replace the outdated KC-135 Stratotanker with them.
In 2019, the US Air Force received the first serial KC-46A. During the pilot operation of the flying tanker, the military discovered a number of problems and shortcomings. For example, the video system of three-dimensional control of the KC-46A rod introduces serious distortions in the perspective of the image, and the operator cannot correctly estimate the distance to the refueled aircraft.
To increase the clarity of the image, Boeing plans to update the KC-46A software by the end of 2021, and by 2024 install 4K color cameras, enlarged monitors, a laser rangefinder and an augmented reality system on it.
In addition to the refueling rod, the KC-46A has several more air refueling systems, thanks to which it can simultaneously transfer fuel to four aircraft. One of them — the "hose-cone" under the center section-was already allowed to be used in a limited mode by the US Air Force in July. Two more "hose-cone" systems are installed on the left and right consoles of the tanker's wing.
On August 6, the American Air Mobility Command allowed KC-46A to refuel C-17 Globemaster III, B-52H Stratofortress and other KC-46s with a rod. But the flying tanker will not be able to do this in all missions. He will not be sent to combat missions until he receives full functionality. The Air Mobility Command says that this will have to wait for several more years.
The visual control system is not the only weak point of the KC-46A. Earlier we wrote about the shortcomings in the auxiliary power plant of the tanker, because of which it was required to be serviced more often and more carefully. Boeing fixes them.
Vasilisa Chernyavtseva
