Boeing has delivered its 5th Pegasus KC-46A tanker to the US Air Force, the first to be incorporated at Altus Air Force Base, Oklahoma.
The KC-46 departed Boeing's Seattle facility for Altus, where the 56th Air Refueling Squadron will now be responsible for the Pegasus and its crew, ensuring maintenance and training and .
“We are excited to see Pegasus arrive in Oklahoma, a strong partner of Boeing and the American military”, said Leanne Caret, president and CEO of Boeing Defense, Space & Security. “We look forward to continuing to deliver KC-46 tankers to Altus, McConnell Air Force Base in Kansas, and Pease Air National Guard Base in New Hampshire throughout this year.”
The 56th ARS was activated August 2016 in preparation for the arrival of the new aircraft. Three additional KC-46A aircraft will be delivered to Altus in the coming weeks.
During extensive flight tests to date, six KC-46 aircraft have completed more than 3800 flight hours and discharged over four million pounds of fuel on A-10, AV-8B, B-52, C-17, KC- 10. The KC-46 also serves KC-135, F-15E, F-16 and F/A-18 aircraft, and even another KC-46A.
The first four KC-46A tankers were delivered in January to McConnell Air Force Base in Wichita, Kansas. The first batch of tankers is for 52 orders out of an expected 179 for the US Air Force.
The KC-46A, derived from Boeing's commercial 767 airframe, is built at the company's Everett, Washington facility. Boeing was awarded its initial contract in 2011 to design and develop the Air Force's newest tanker.
