More KC-46A woes....

[GreenKnight121]

ORAC - some things have changed in the year since then (your article dated 27 January 2014).

The USAF has opened up the just-unfunded program (first-year funding in the FY2015 budget) to more options:
Air Force Works to Replace JSTARS Fleet | DoD Buzz

The Air Force is looking at a range of airframes from Gulfstream jets to Bombardier airplanes and Boeing 737–700’s — as potential replacements for its aging fleet of 16 E-8C Joint Surveillance Target Attack Radar System, or JSTARS, airplanes.

The service has allocated $70 million in its fiscal year 2015 budget request for its JSTARS recapitalization program, an effort which seeks to build and field a new version of its surveillance planes by 2022, said Col. Henry Cyr, Commander of the 461st Air Control Wing, Robins Air Force Base, Ga.

.....

Gulfstream, Northrop Grumman, Bombardier and Boeing are all among the vendors expected to compete to offer the recapitalized JSTARS plane.
“We’ve done some analysis on a lot of different platforms and the platform that we think best meets the Air Force requirements for the JSTARS mission is our offering – a 737–700 Boeing business jet,” said Rod Meranda, JSTARS business development lead, Boeing.

Gulfstream plans to offer the G650, a twin-engine business jet, and Bombardier will likely offer its Global 6000, a long-range business jet, according to a report in FlightGlobal​.com. Northrop Grumman officials tell Military​.com they are testing a G550 aircraft, a 96-foot long business jet configured to integrate with JSTARS technologies.

One analyst said the Air Force plan makes sense and is achieve-able, provided procurement money is prioritized. The G650 and Bombardier Global 6000 are both smaller, lower-cost options than the Boeing 737‑7000 business jet, said Richard Aboulafia, vice president of analysis at the Teal Group, a Va.-based consultancy.

“The size of the plan chosen will come down to what kind of battle management systems on board. The Boeing 737–700 will give you a lot more space for battle management consuls, radar and other technologies. However, that would be less affordable than the other options,” Aboulafia told Military​.com.

Note the B737-700 option - there is a fully-mil-spec B737-based option, which is currently being integrated into the DOD supply/maintenance/training establishment (which would lower operating cost for a USAF version), that has recently been tested for JSTARS-like capabilities: as I noted back on 7 November 2014: http://www.pprune.org/8731875-post835.html

Originally Posted by GreenKnight121

Poseidon can replace JSTARS as well - potentially. Which brings us back to MMA... Can we say MMLA? (Multimission Maritime/Land Aircraft)

Providing ground-mapping and moving-personnel-tracking capability to the P-8:
Exclusive: P-8 Poseidon Flies With Shadowy Radar System Attached

What is also so promising about the AAS is the fact that it can work strictly over land when the mission dictates without having to optimize the sensor package physically. In this role the P-8 and its advanced radar system would be working in a very similar fashion to the USAF's E-8 J-STARS aircraft, a reality that some say led to the radar's deep classification in the first place.

The USAF just needs to modify it with USAF-required systems, and >50% of the R&D cost can be bypassed.