The KC-46A aerial refueling tanker is on target to meet its next milestone in the spring of 2012, Boeing’s [BA] chief of military aircraft said last week.
“It’s met all of the customer milestones to date,” Chris Chadwick, president of Boeing Military Aircraft, said in an interview, adding the program is also meeting cost expectations. He said it is too early to call it a “model program” but is “definitely performing to plan.”
The KC-46A completed its Integrated Baseline Review in August and is set to undergo a Preliminary Design Review next year. “We are extremely happy with progress to date,” Chadwick said.
The Air Force expects the first flight of the KC-46A to take place in 2014. Boeing won the contract over rival European Aeronautic Defense and Space (EADS) in February. The initial $3.5 billion contract is for the first 18 planes, with a total program for 179 planes and valued at upward of $30 billion.
The KC-46A is slated to replace the Air Force’s aging fleet of KC-135s and KC-10s. The Air Force has identified the KC-46A as a top priority, along with development of a next generation long-range, deep-strike bomber, and the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter.
Gen. Norton Schwartz, the Air Force chief of staff, said in September that the service will work to protect those three programs as the Pentagon faces $450 billion in spending reductions over the next 10 years (Defense Daily, Sept. 23).
At the same time, the Pentagon could face an additional $500 billion in cuts in the next decade if a so-called congressional “super committee” fails to come up with a plan to reduce federal spending across the board by $1.5 trillion over the next 10 years.
Air Force officials have warned that any deeper cuts could force the service to renegotiate the contract with Boeing, likely resulting in higher costs (Defense Daily, Oct. 4 2011).