Boeing [BA] this week begins assembly of the first refueling boom for the Air Force’s KC-46 next-generation aerial refueling tanker, according to a company statement.
The boom will be assembled in the company’s KC-46 Boom Assembly Center, which opened yesterday at Boeing Field in Seattle.
Boom assembly marks the program’s shift to production from design activities. The first boom will enter testing during third quarter 2013.
Boeing said its KC-46 program remains on track to deliver 18 combat-ready tankers by 2017 and for the next Air Force contract milestone, the Critical Design Review (CDR), scheduled for the summer of 2013.
Production of the KC-46 tanker itself begins next summer in Boeing’s Everett, Wash., facility. Boeing will build 179 KC-46s to begin replacing the Air Force’s legacy KC-135 aerial refueling tankers.