IIRC the fatigue life for the KC-135R fleet was estimated to be 39,000hrs, the 3 RAF RJs were each at around 23000 hrs when acquired, reputedly the three lowest hour KC-135R airframes. Simplistically with an OSD of 2035 that allows c 1,300 hrs per airframe per annum so if 1,380 is 2x normal usage (the rate AM Harv Smyth mentioned in his Sir Sydney Camm lecture in Feb.) then we can concentrate on worrying about having the money available to keep the mission systems cutting edge.
From my point of ignorance we are effectively talking a fleet of airliners being used 9 hours a week each - I am assuming no high stress manoeuvring is normally required.
Last edited by SLXOwft; 4th Aug 2023 at 10:48.
Reason: Smyth -doh!