Defense News has more news, and is quoting Gen. Ryan Samuelson, who leads the Air Force’s KC-46 cross-functional team, and Air Mobility Command chief Gen. Jacqueline Van Ovost
The Air Force currently has 44 KC-46s of the 179 it plans to buy over the program of record. By the end of 2021, that number will be up to 60 tankers, Samuelson said.
However, there are a number of missions that the KC-46 will not be permitted to perform until its critical deficiencies are resolved and the Air Force deems it fully operational, Van Ovost said. Namely, it will not be allowed to perform wartime missions in the Middle East for U.S. Central Command, nor will it be tasked for missions in U.S. European Command or U.S. Indo-Pacific Command.
It will also be restricted from refueling stealth planes such as the F-35, F-22 and B-2, which all feature a low-observable coating that protects them from radar detection, Samuelson said. Air Force officials believe the KC-46 is at higher risk of damaging stealth coatings with its refueling boom because of
longstanding issues with the Remote Vision System, a collection of cameras and infrared sensors used by operators to steer the tanker’s boom into a fuel receptacle.
https://www.defensenews.com/smr/air-...erations-soon/
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