EVERETT — The Boeing Co. said today what many industry watchers suspected: The KC-46 aerial-refueling tanker will be delivered late to the U.S. Air Force.
The company says it will deliver the first tanker by August 2017. That’s the date by which it had originally said it would deliver all 18 combat-ready tankers. The company now says the first batch won’t be completed before early 2018.
Technical issues and supplier problems have dogged KC-46 development since 2014. Boeing is still grappling with the latest problem, which has to do the tanker’s refueling system. The KC-46 Pegasus, which is based on Boeing’s 767 jetliner and is assembled in Everett, has already shown it can refuel several types of airplanes in flight. However, problems arose during trials with the C-17, a cargo plane, and the A-10 Warthog, a ground-attack fighter.
The delays likely will mean further cost write-offs by Boeing, which already has swallowed more than $1.2 billion in overruns during development. The development contract capped the cost to federal taxpayers at $4.9 billion. Boeing has to pick up the tab after that.
Boeing had initially planned to deliver the first 18 tankers between March and August 2017. That will now be August 2017 to January 2018, the company said Friday.
However, the tankers won’t have all their equipment until October 2018, more than a year late, according to Air Force officials.
The missing equipment are wing-attached pods that allow a tanker to simultaneously refuel multiple airplanes with hoses extended from the pods.
“The Air Force considers the KC-46 a critical capability and it’s important to take the time necessary to get it right,” said Gen. Duke Richardson, who oversees the Air Force’s tanker acquisition program.
Dan Catchpole: 425-339-3454; dcatchpole@heraldnet.com; Twitter: @dcatchpole.
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