The US Air Force (USAF) continues to develop the capabilities of its newest tanker, the KC-46 Pegasus, despite its constant problems. On April 04th, a KC-46A performed in-flight refueling trials (REVO) with an E-4B Nightwatch, an aircraft much better known by its infamous nickname: Plane of the End of the World.
The aircraft came together over a snow-covered mountain range in Southern California, in a rare meeting of two generations of US military aircraft.
Pilots from the 418th Flight Test Squadron at Edwards Air Force Base (the USAF's main center for test and experimental flights) flew the KC-46, while the E-4B was flown by its own crew from the 595th Command and Control Group, from Offutt Air Force Base.
They are beautiful images, but this is not the first encounter between the veteran E-4B and the modern KC-46. The first t tests between the two aircraft took place in 2021, also at Edwards.
Based on the 767, the KC-46A Pegasus has been under development since 2011 as a partial solution to the old USAF tanker fleet, consisting of two models, the KC-10 Extender and the KC-135 Stratotanker.
Despite being more modern, the KC-46 has gone through a series of problems, some serious, that prevent it from reaching its full capacity. The worst of them is in the Remote Vision System (RVS), a set of cameras that is fundamental to the Pegasus mission: to supply other planes.
The RVS has presented flaws that make the operation unsafe, such as vision distortions. The problems are so complicated that the USAF has ordered Boeing to have the system was completely redesigned. This, added to other problems, made the company have a billionaire loss in 2020.
In 2021 the jet manufacturer received a $ 402 million fine due to the failure of the plane. Even so, the USAF continues to invest heavily in the KC-46, and is not going to give up on the contract, despite the problems. Recently the aircraft did its first REVO with foreign planes.
On the other hand, while the KC-46 continues to the ranks, the E-4B is about to say goodbye.
The Nightwatch entered service with the E-4A version in the mid-1970s. The USAF received the first E-4B in 1980 and has since updated the model, which is based on the Jumbo 747-200.
Its function is to serve as an airborne command and control post for government and general staff leaders in the event of a nuclear war, hence the nickname the Plane of the Apocalypse. You can read more about the unique capabilities of the E-4B and similar aircraft. in this special article produced by Portal Aeroflap.
The E-4B is the highest cost-per-flight-hour aircraft in US service, costing nearly $160.000 per hour flown. But the USAF is already studying a replacement through the Survivable Airborne Operations Center (SAOC) project.
The Air Force insists that, to meet mission requirements, the new Nightwatch must be a four-engine. While the details of these requirements remain confidential, the Boeing 747 is likely to be the only option given the number of engines the USAF wants, let alone the size of the interior required.
