Why US TRANSCOM is considering a contractor provided element of the overall task.
rom the Congressional Report I posted:
"Affordability: Each solution has unique cost considerations resulting from the contractor selected, aircraft modifications required, operations, airworthiness, and USAF receiver air refueling testing. Based on initial feedback from industry (summer 2019), the estimated price per flying hour for commercial contract air refueling ranged from $15K- $27K, which includes operations and maintenance and does not include the cost of fuel. For a comparison, in 2019 the Ownership Cost per flying hour (which includes the cost of the fuel) of the KC-10 was approximately $23K per flying hour and the KC-135 was approximately $26K. The Ownership Cost of the KC-46 was $98K per flying hour for the first year of operations (cost per flying hour projections for KC-46 will decrease as the program progresses to steady state). The cost of ownership for each airframe does not consider the cost of military personnel training that is comparatively included within industry's cost per hour. Subject to insurance and contractor malfeasance, the USAF may be responsible for all or most of the liability to third parties, loss of or damage to contractor provided aircraft ("hull" liability) and loss of or damage to USAF property. In order to fully understand all components of cost, liability, and affordability, further analysis is required before initiating any contractual arrangements with service providers."