The American general declared the unsuitability of the new tankers "Pegasus"
The head of the US Air Force Transport Command Stephen Lyons publicly challenged the management’s decision to resign 16 KC-10A Extender and 13 KC-135R Stratotanker in the upcoming fiscal year.
Worth the failure
According to him, the intention to write off these tankers is due to the false hope for a new type of KC-46A Pegasus aircraft, which they are replacing. It is expected that Boeing will cope with the many shortcomings identified in this machine. However, the general does not share this optimism. In his opinion, the Pegasus are not able to take part in real combat operations.
He expressed his views on February 25 at a Senate hearing.
Lyons said, explaining that the decommissioning of the KC-10A and KC-135R creates a "failure in operational potential."
According to him, "Pegasus" in their current configuration are "unsuitable" for real tasks. Therefore, he asked Congress to allocate $ 110 million to support flights of 16 KC-10A and 13 KC-135R. According to him, it is necessary to keep the number of air tankers at around 479 units.
Dangerous rod
According to The War Zone, the new KC-46A tankers are still suffering from a number of critical issues. The largest of them is the failure of the remote monitoring system (RVS). In the traditional layout of air tankers, the boom operator is located at the rear of the aircraft and directs it to the receiving vessel. On the KC-46A, the operator controls the boom from the main cab, guided by a variety of cameras.
However, according to the publication, during testing a number of problems were identified in the work of RVS, including the lack of perception of the depth of the submitted image. This increased the risk of damage to the refueling aircraft by the bar. In 2019, Boeing promised to fix this defect, but no real steps have been taken so far.
- notes The War Zone.
As of December 2019, the Air Force has already delivered 30 KC-46A, each of which will require modernization. At the same time, the Pentagon intends to purchase another 15 Pegasus in fiscal year 2021. However, in the conditions of their unpreparedness for full operation, the possibility of using tankers of private companies is vigorously discussed. Moreover, the US Navy has long resorted to their help.
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