The U.S. Air Force and the Boeing Company have come to terms for a plan to improve the readiness of the KC-46 Pegasus tanker and accelerate capability delivery to the fleet.
The plan pursues three primary lines of effort: repurposing early-built aircraft for immediate operational impact, accelerating the Remote Vision System 2.0 retrofit schedule and implementing a targeted performance-based logistics effort to resolve systemic readiness challenges.
"The KC-46 is a cornerstone of U.S. power projection, and we are proactively partnering with Boeing to ensure it is always ready to deliver," said Secretary of the Air Force Troy Meink. "By establishing this multi-pronged approach, we are directly improving aircraft availability, accelerating the delivery of vital new capabilities and significantly enhancing the overall supportability of the fleet."
Combined with the Air Force's investment in the Fiscal Year 2027 Presidential Budget Request, the plan will increase KC-46 aircraft availability by more than 20% by 2030. Unlocking critical materiel earlier and establishing limited performance-based logistics, this partnership ensures tangible increases to both near- and long-term readiness.
"This is a decisive step forward for the KC-46 enterprise," stated William Bailey, performing the duties of the Assistant Secretary of the Air Force for Acquisition, Technology, and Logistics. "This partnership secures Boeing's continued investment in both KC-46 readiness as well as the production line, effectively lowering risk for our transition to the KC-46 Production Extension and ensuring this critical mobility platform continues to flow to the warfighter without delay."
While the specifics of the plan itself will remain protected to safeguard operational security, its three lines of effort, as detailed below, will provide a near-term aircraft availability boost of approximately 6% and a longer-term increase of 20% by 2030.
Repurposing early-built aircraft
First, the Air Force is repurposing five early-build aircraft, which serves a dual purpose: providing the Air Force with dedicated test assets - keeping combat-ready tankers focused on the mission - and immediately injecting high-value spare parts into the operational fleet. Because these aircraft were not scheduled to reach the fleet until early 2031, this effort allows the Air Force to immediately free otherwise "trapped" materiel. This includes high-value parts, like engines and landing gear, from three non-operational, early-build aircraft, providing a significant near-term boost to fleet readiness by resolving existing parts shortages.
Accelerating RVS 2.0 Retrofits
Second, the plan significantly accelerates the fielding of the critical RVS 2.0 upgrade. Scheduled to begin fielding in early 2028, the plan creates a partnership with Boeing to bundle the modification with the Air Force's depot-level maintenance and accelerate kit deliveries. This strategy reduces the retrofit timeline from 13 years to seven years, while simultaneously reducing the retrofit's impact on aircraft availability by 90%.
Implementing Performance-Based Logistics
Finally, the plan directs the Air Force and Boeing to pursue a temporary, Performance-Based Logistics agreement targeting the supportability of the aerial-refueling subsystem and other key components. Reliability and parts availability of the aerial-refueling subsystem collectively represent the largest detractors of KC-46 availability. This effort makes Boeing responsible for improving the availability of these critical systems and is designed to ensure a successful transition back to organic Air Force sustainment after a limited five-year period.
These and other efforts reflect the Air Force's continued investment in both tanker capacity and capability to enable the Joint force now and into the future.
