Originally Posted by
CONSO
" That's one reason the KC-46 (unlike any other tanker, including A330MRTT) is EMP hardened. "
KC135 and variants have been emp hardened for years and years
You are correct. I misspoke. More accurately, KC-135 and KC-10 while hardened, were not hardened to the levels of MIL-STD-2169. KC-46 is hardened to more then
twice the level of MIL-STD-2169 (although not quite to the level of VC-25 and E-4) and has been HEMP tested per TOP 01-2-620. Further, no legacy tanker has been HEMP tested per TOP 01-2-620 for the simple reason that those tests had not been developed when those aircraft were designed and certified. I may not go into any more detail than that.