Apparently, the Boeing Co. and Airbus aren’t the only ones to be overly optimistic about flight testing new aircraft.
According to this Flightglobal report, a weapons tester with the Department of Defense says the U.S. Air Force has an unrealistic plan for flight testing its new Boeing Co. aerial refueling tanker.
The Air Force will need 1,250 hours to test out its new Boeing KC-46A tankers, Michael Gilmore, the Defense Department’s director of the office of test and evaluation, said in a new report. The Air Force has planned for 750 hours.
Part of the Air Force’s assumption is based on the fact that Boeing’s tanker is based on its Everett-built commercial 767 jet.
Last February, Boeing won a contract to supply the Air Force with 179 tankers to replace its aging fleet of KC-135s, also built by Boeing. The Chicago-based company beat out EADS, the European parent company of Boeing’s commercial rival Airbus.
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