Air Force keeps 20 KC-46s

The Air Force plans to retire 20 KC-135 Stratotankers in fiscal 2027 and still take delivery of 20 new KC-46A Pegasus tankers. (airandspaceforces.com) That delivery total is separate from the budget buy: the service is asking Congress for $3.9 billion to procure 15 KC-46s in fiscal 2027. Those aircraft would not start arriving until October 2029. (militarytimes.com) (airandspaceforces.com) Air Force Vice Chief of Staff Gen. John D. Lamontagne told lawmakers on April 15 that the service will “fully comply” with the fiscal 2026 National Defense Authorization Act tanker mandate. That law raised the minimum tanker inventory from 466 aircraft to 502 by Oct. 1, 2028. (airandspaceforces.com) The intermediate targets are 478 tankers in fiscal 2027 and 490 in fiscal 2028. Lamontagne said the Air Force is no longer retiring one KC-135 every time one KC-46 comes off Boeing’s line. (airandspaceforces.com) Budget documents show the Air Force now has roughly 370 KC-135s and 105 KC-46s. A service spokesperson told Air & Space Forces Magazine those counts do not include aircraft lost during Operation Epic Fury. (airandspaceforces.com) The 20 planned KC-46 deliveries in 2027 would be a program high. Boeing said in January it delivered 14 KC-46s in 2025 and expected 19 deliveries in 2026. (airandspaceforces.com) The Air Force also corrected confusion in its budget paperwork about the tanker’s long-term size. After documents briefly pointed to 319 aircraft, the service said on April 24 that its KC-46 program of record is 263 aircraft. (aviationweek.com) (militarytimes.com) That 263-aircraft figure is well above the original KC-46 plan. Aviation Week reported the program first aimed for 179 aircraft, later expanded to 188 under contract options, then grew again with a planned 75-aircraft production extension. (aviationweek.com) The expansion is moving ahead while the Air Force delays a clean-sheet future tanker. The fiscal 2027 budget zeroed out funding for the Next-Generation Air Refueling System and shifted $13 million into “Advanced Tanker Systems” for mission-system work instead. (defenseone.com) The KC-46 still carries unresolved technical problems. Military Times reported the tanker has five Category 1 deficiencies, including Remote Vision System issues, and the replacement RVS 2.0 is now projected for summer 2027. (militarytimes.com) Lamontagne said on March 4 the Air Force will not finalize a contract for another 75 KC-46s until Boeing fixes key deficiencies. For now, the service is keeping more old tankers in service while counting on new Pegasus deliveries to hit Congress’s fleet targets. (airandspaceforces.com 1) (airandspaceforces.com 2)