If only there had been an interim solution where the USAF could have perhaps leased some tankers to provide capacity and releive the elderly KC-135s until KC46 came onstream.
in 2015 Airbus was in discussions to provide the USAF with additional tanking capacity, so there was/is an interim tanker of sorts...the A330 MRTT.
...it has not resulted in a loss of aerial tanking capacity.because none of the KC-135s have been retired with most of the fleet having service life to well into 2040 and many well beyond.
Really? Because in 2017 the chief of USTRANSCOM, General Darren McDew, told Congress that the shortfall in tanker capacity was the thing that was causing him "to lose sleep at night". He added that plans to retire the KC-10A from 2019 to 2024 were being considered because of this shortfall in capacity.
It's one thing to have KC-135s in the inventory, it's quite another to have them available for operations.