The Boeing KC-46 tanker program has now completed all the Supplemental Type Certificate (STC) flight tests, after a refueling / communications flight with a C-17 Globemaster III.
The STC includes the military systems installed on the 767-2C plane to make it a tanker and is one of the two airworthiness certification required by the FAA. Boeing will present the data and reports resulting from the FAA for the revision before the STC.
"This is a key milestone for the program and brings us closer to the first delivery of the KC-46," said Mike Gibbons, vice president and program manager of the Boeing KC-46A tanker. "We have the best resources of Boeing working together to ensure that the Air Force has a revolutionary tanker with unrivaled capabilities."
As part of the STC tests, the combined Boeing and Air Force team had to validate both the boom and the drogue systems for air refueling with a multiple receiver aircraft. It has also been shown that the KC-46 can charge fuel from KC-135, KC-10 and other KC-46 tankers, while testing aircraft defense systems and avionics.
Boeing previously received the Amended Type Certificate from the FAA for its 767-2C core configuration in December 2017. The 767-2C is a modified version of the commercial 767, with revised structure, wiring and plumbing.
The program has six aircraft that have supported various ATC and STC test segments. Overall, they have completed 2.900 flight hours and over 2.500 "contacts" during refueling flights with F-16, F / A-18, AV-8B, C-17, A-10, KC-10 and KC-46 aircraft. .
The KC-46, derived from the commercial 767, is built at the Everett, Washington plant. Boeing is currently under contract for the first 34 179 tanker scheduled for the US Air Force.
The KC-46A is a multi-purpose tanker able to supply all allied aircraft and military coalitions compatible with international air refueling procedures and can carry passengers, cargo and patients.
