“This first tanker flight is a key milestone for
the program and we’ll now begin free air
stability tests and flight controls of the boom
and wing aerial refueling pods (WARPs) before
conducting aerial refueling tests where the
KC-46 will make contact with other military
aircraft down the road,” said Col. Christopher
Coombs, U.S. Air Force KC-46 System program
manager.
“Today’s flight reinforces that we are moving in
the right direction and are on track to begin
planned Milestone C testing later this year,”
said Tim Peters, Boeing KC-46 tanker vice
president and program manager. “This is an
aerospace industry first and the culmination of
a lot of hard work by the team, including
Boeing, our suppliers and the U.S. Air Force.”
The Boeing team now will conduct a post-flight
inspection and calibrate instrumentation prior
to the next series of flights, during which the
tanker boom and WARPs systems will be deployed.
Before the end of the year, the KC-46 will begin
conducting aerial refueling flights with a
number of U.S. Air Force aircraft. Those
flights, along with the mission systems
demonstrations and a recently completed ground
cargo handling test, will support the planned
Milestone C decision in 2016.
As part of a contract awarded in 2011 to design
and develop the U.S. Air Force’s next-generation
tanker aircraft, Boeing is building four test
aircraft – two are currently configured as
767-2Cs and two KC-46A tankers. The KC-46s will
fly as fully equipped tankers through the FAA
and military certification process, while the
767-2Cs enter flight test prior to receiving
their upgrade to the KC-46A configuration and
the addition of their aerial refueling systems.
|