The United States Government has rejected Israel's request to anticipate the delivery of two KC-46 Pegasus tankers. The aircraft is seen as a strategically critical means for a possible Israeli strike against Iran, which has been growing stronger in its nuclear endeavor.
Also in October, Tel-Aviv asked the US accelerate delivery of four of the eight KC-46A acquired. The sale of the in-flight refueling (REVO) aircraft, valued at $2.4 billion, has been approved by the US Department of State. The first ones were supposed to be delivered by 2023, but Israel wanted to anticipate that number, receiving at least two aircraft in early 2022.
However, the aircraft would have to come from the production line destined for the US Air Force, which itself is already behind schedule because of problems with Boeing's quality control. The latest chapter in this series of problems faced by the REVO plane was a plastic cap that was found in the fuel tank during a delivery flight, posing risks to the jet's operation.
In addition, Boeing will have to redesign the Remote Vision System (RVS), a system that allows boom operators to refuel other aircraft in flight. On previous aircraft (KC-10 and KC-135), the operator is at a special station at the rear of the aircraft. On the KC-46, this vision is replaced by the cameras of the complex RVS system, which is a hybrid 2D/3D system that requires operators to wear special glasses.
According to The War Zone, the USAF does not expect the issues to be properly resolved until sometime between 2023 and 2024. Until then, these aircraft will continue to have limited, at best, ability to perform their primary mission of aerial refueling.
This means that even if Israel manages to accelerate the schedule for the delivery of its first KC-46A, the actual operational usefulness of these planes could still be limited until 2024.
This is important because the main driver behind the Israeli government's desire to get these tankers sooner is supposedly the need to improve air-supply capability to potential attacks on Iran, which would be a complex and high-risk operation.
At the moment, the Israeli Air Force (IAF) operates around seven KC-707 Re'em aircraft, operated by the 120th Squadron 'Desert Giants', based at Nevatim Air Base. The KC-46, if its various problems can be fully resolved, would offer Israel a much more modern and capable tanker capable of, among other things, carrying more fuel than these older aircraft.
“While they still fly, the new fleet of KC-46 tanks would give Israel much more range and capability because it can refuel jets and bombers and also receive fuel in flight”, according to The New York Times. “Refueling capability is critical – otherwise Israeli planes would have to rely on aging KC-707s or land in the UAE or Saudi Arabia. Both countries are rivals of Iran, but neither wants to be implicated in assisting an attack.”
Speaking to reporters in the US, Israeli Defense Minister Benny Gantz said the military had received orders to “prepare for the Iranian challenge at the operational level.” Gantz also said that “There is room for international pressure – political, economic and also military – to convince Iran to stop its fantasies about a nuclear program.”
For the moment, Israel appears to be interested in at least keeping the option of some sort of military action open as a deterrent to Iran pursuing nuclear weapons. There is always the possibility that this will involve air strikes or other operations aimed at achieving more indirect goals, such as eliminating key regime figures in Tehran.
