The Air Force and Boeing have identified how to address them, with the company paying to fix the vision system and the service paying to refine the boom. I also know it because I had a lengthy conversation on Thursday with a senior Air Force official who laid out in precise terms where the tanker program stands. The Air Force identified nine “key performance parameters” when it began the tanker effort, and KC-46A meets all of them. It can transfer fuel to Air Force, Navy, Marine and allied planes at a rate in excess of 1,000 gallons per minute. Air Force leaders decided years ago that they want more than the 179 Pegasus airframes subsumed in the current KC-46A program.

Source: Forbes January 11, 2019 14:26 UTC