Use of centreline Drogue finally approved….

https://www.18af.amc.af.mil/News/Art...rst-kc-46a-in/

AMC approves operational use of the Centerline Drogue System as first KC-46A Interim Capability Release milestone

Those photos show the F-18 sitting too low on the hose, which should have a slight bend to avoid stress on the probe tip.

While I understand the boom will require MUCH more work with the vision system, why did the centerline drogue take so long? Sorry if I missed that. Are there problems with the the wing pods?

Refueling with the boom now cleared for B-52's, C-17 and other 46's

https://www.airforcetimes.com/indust...onal-missions/

https://www.thedrive.com/the-war-zon...roubled-tanker

A Plastic Cap In A KC-46's Fuel Valve Generates More Turbulence For The Troubled Tanker

The U.S. Air Force’s beleaguered Boeing KC-46 Pegasus tanker program hit yet another snag earlier this year. Deliveries were halted for around a month after plastic debris was found inside an internal fuel line in one of the aircraft as it flew to its future home in North Carolina. The small red cap jammed a valve open, causing an uncontrolled fuel transfer between tanks……

Last night - during the Monday Night pre-game ceremonies (San Francisco Bay area), a KC-46 flew by (boom deployed) in formation with three F-16s.

Wow, that must have taken some skill..... :rolleyes:

Imagine California ANG F-16's from Fresno. Don't think there any 46's at Travis yet, so maybe Edwards based or a long cross county?

Salute!
.
Make no mistake, I am biased about these matters due to my presence on the coast where the 'bus version of the tanker would have been built using U.S. folks, trains, boats and low cost of living area, etc.
On the tech and economic side, the thing is worse than the Aardvaark was in the late sixties.At least the f-111 turned into a supreme penetrating attack jet and very good Spark 'vaark.
- whoever thot TV display for the refueling boom was better and cheaper than a human boom-op looking at the reciever 25 or 30 feet away was not a boom operator with hundreds, if not thousands, of successful hook-ups. Sheesh. Virtuality and 3-d cameras/displays can only go so far. And then, on a stormy night when a low fuel receiver joins up, the damn stuff goes tits up! I will guarantee that the boom-op will connect faster and more reliably, especially after a few offloads on various receiver types. The experience many of us had in 'nam and the Storm will bear me out.
- production standards by what used to be the gold standard company of lore went AWOL. I can also guarantee that labor costs for the contract went up compared to Alabama due to the "right to work" laws and lower costs of living, just like making the 787 outside of the Seattle area.

MY VIEW: Big B got the production after initial award due to the U.S. delegation from Washington and their poly-tickian efforts and threats. That is my story and I am sticking to it.

Gums sends...

I think they mentioned the formation was from Edwards - so both the KC-46 and F-16s were presumably from Edwards.

Not saying the F16s couldn’t have originated out of FAT, but they weren’t part of the guard unit there. The 144th swapped out their F16s for F15s a few years back.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/144th_Fighter_Wing

Airbus seem to manage it from the flight deck...

True, but has the bus passed gas to stealthy aircraft at night/low viz via the boom? That seems to be the main challenge for the Boeing vision system, which has been an absolute travesty.

Salute!
Tnx, folks......guess I gotta find the 'bus proposal to compare.

My memory points toward a conventional boom-op station and real eyeballs to use controlling the boom.
The drogue is a no-brainer, and is easily implemented by drones nowadays'

I have refueled many times in "marginal" weather conditions but only a few times when almost outta gas. The boom op dudes got me hooked every time.

Gums sends,,,

True, neither the 46 or bus will probably ever “tow” someone back to friendly territory - but the bean counters will add up the cost of an extra crewman in every tanker crew over the life of th3 aircraft against the probable need and decide it’s more cost effective.

Plus, of course, the bus is trialling fully automatic refuelling and, machines being what they are, that most probably be more reliable over time, if only because it’s reaction time is thousands of times faster.

Salute!

I have no problem with a new system and maybe a dual role person on the crew. Was there, been that and flew/tested many new systems and concepts in the Sluf and Viper their first few years.

My USAF rumor network has indicated the visual system for operating the boom lacks a few things besides depth perception. Nevertheless, if ROSCOSMOS and Space X can have their super hook up system for the ISS using Dragon and Soyuz, I can see a similar implementation with a manual backup. Maybe a benign coating around the receptacle and a sensor on the boom.

My main beef has been the poly-tickian influence on the source selection at the beginning of the program and then the problems big B has had along the way. I'll back off, now.

BTW, I have no problem with snuggling up to the tanker at night in the rain, then stabilizing as the robot boom makes contact and gives me gas. My concern is the human using a bad visual system and the boom hitting my canopy. As far as I recall, once hooked up, even the antique 135 boom and the KC-10 one operated independent of the human boom op. Maybe another pilot that has experience with the things can comment here.

Gums sends...

https://www.defensenews.com/air/2022...vision-system/

The Air Force and Boeing haven’t yet fixed the troubled KC-46 Pegasus vision system

We have Boeing jet drones landing on aircraft carriers at night but the bloody boom can't be fixed over years? By a company that successfully built hundreds of tankers over tens of years? Hard to believe. Ask Israel for a fix.

BOING! MQ-25A Stungray arrived onboard BUSH as per photo: https://news.usni.org/wp-content/upl...6.15.05-PM.png Deck Trials taxiing about etc. only, with some at night, then craned off.
https://cimg0.ibsrv.net/gimg/pprune....f5392583eb.jpg

Endlessly spending time and money on what was a bad idea to begin with (using 2D imaging do what 3D vision is needed for). Put a boom operator station back in the tail like we've had in the KC-135 for 60 years. Otherwise make it all automatic, based on a LIDAR solution.