This whole procurement is not about extending range of fighters; it's about 95% greed an corruption.
Two modified 757s for every KC-x could deliver fuel at twice the rate for about 5% of the cost. $50 Billion is obscene.
Our military is costing more in inflated dollars today than at the height of WWII, when Ford was producing a B-24 bomber every 99 minutes. There's no excuse for it, other than greed and corruption.
GB