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Air Force

Air Force Pauses KC-46 Acceptances For Foreign Object Debris Issue

By Vivienne Machi

Thursday, February 28th, 2019

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Air Force Pauses KC-46 Acceptances For Foreign Object Debris Issue

The KC-46A Pegasus aerial refueling aircraft. Boeing took a $67 million charge for the program in the third quarter. (Photo: Boeing)

ORLANDO, Fla. – The Air Force has temporarily halted its acceptance of the KC-46A Pegasus aerial refueler due to the discovery of foreign object debris – trash, tools and the like – or FOD, around aircraft on the production line, the service’s acquisition chief said Feb. 28. “Planes right now are grounded,” Will Roper, Air Force assistant secretary for acquisition, technology and logistics, told reporters Thursday at the Air Force Association’s Air Warfare Symposium here. “We have found objects as we…

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