The U.S. Air Force is expecting to get the first batch of Boeing’s new aerial refueling tanker a year later than initially scheduled, but, military officials say, Boeing is still expected to meet its contractual delivery deadline, reports the Wichita Eagle’s Matt Riedl.
The delivery delay is due to problems that have hampered development and production of the Boeing KC-46 Pegasus. The tanker is slated to replace the Air Force’s aging fleet of Boeing KC-135 Stratotankers. It is based on the aerospace giant’s popular 767-200ER and is assembled in Everett.
The first KC-46 tankers had been slated begin arriving at McConnell Air Force Base in Wichita, Kansas, early this year. Now, the McConnell AFB is not expected to see its first Pegasus until March 2017, reports the Wichita Eagle. Construction of tanker facilities is continuing at the base.
The Chicago-headquartered company has to deliver the first 18 combat-ready airplanes by August 2017, a requirement in its $4.9 billion development contract from the Pentagon.
The military is “still scheduled to receive all of them by that deadline,” an Air Force spokeswoman told the newspaper.
Of course, that leaves room for the schedule to change.
Boeing put off acknowledging delays in 2014 and 2015 until it had to admit that the development schedule was being pushed back. Those delays have, so far, cost Boeing more than $1 billion in overrun costs. Missing the delivery deadline will cost the company more.
“Sometimes people forget that KC-46 is a developmental program,” Boeing spokesman Charles Ramey told the Eagle. “It’s normal for issues to be discovered and fixed.”
At least 40 test flights have been completed and the tanker test plane has refueled fighter jets and received fuel from a KC-10 Extender, another, larger aerial refueling tanker.
Due to the delayed test schedule, the Air Force has not given Boeing a green light to start production. However, in order to deliver the first batch by August 2017, the company started final assembly last year. That could cost Boeing lots of money if it has to go back and make changes to the airplanes that have already rolled out of the Everett plant.
The KC-46 finally flew in September 2015. The Air Force plans to order 179 tankers.
Dan Catchpole: 425-339-3454; dcatchpole@heraldnet.com; Twitter: @dcatchpole.
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