급유기 미공군, KC-46A 15기 도입 계약 체결

[위종민]

보잉이 KC-46A 공중급유기의 11번 로트 계약을 체결했네요. 15기, 23억 8,900만 달러로 기당 단가는 1억 5,900만 달러입니다. 지난해 10월 체결된 10번 로트 계약보다 6,400만 달러 올라갔네요. 

도입예정분인 179기 중 158기 도입 계약이 체결됐고, 현재까지 미공군이 89기, 항자대가 4기를 인수했다고 하네요. 

보잉은 현재까지 KC-46A 사업에서 70억 달러 가량의 손실을 입고 있습니다. 애초 미공군뿐만 아니라 다른 나라에도 팔 생각이었지만 MRTT에 밀려버렸으니. 보잉의 KC-X 사업은 '승자의 저주'의 교과서적 사례네요. 

https://www.airandspaceforces.com/air-force-boeing-deal-15-new-kc-46/

A U.S. Air Force KC-46 Pegasus from McConnell Air Force Base's 22nd Air Refueling Wing, departs after flying in formation with a KC-135 Stratotanker from McConnell Air Force Base's 350th Expeditionary Air Refueling Squadron, over the U.S. Central Command area of responsibility, July 1, 2024. (U.S. Air Force photo)

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Air Force, Boeing Agree on $2.4B Deal for 15 New KC-46 Tankers

Nov. 22, 2024 | By Greg Hadley

The Air Force and Boeing agreed to a nearly $2.4 billion contract for a new lot of KC-46 aerial refueling tankers on Nov. 21.

The deal, announced by the Pentagon, is for 15 new aircraft in Lot 11 at a cost of $2.389 billion—some $159 million per tail. 

All told, USAF has awarded contracts for 158 of 179 planned tankers. The service may still buy a more upgraded Pegasus as part of its KC-135 recapitalization program. In a release, Boeing said it has delivered 89 aircraft to the U.S. Air Force, plus four to the Japan Air Self-Defense Force. 

The new deal is good news for Boeing, which has suffered $7 billion in losses on the program and faced issues with both its defense and commercial divisions in recent months. The lot cost is up $64 million from last November, when the Air Force and Boeing struck a deal for Lot 10. 

The KC-46 program as a whole is making gradual progress after years of problems and multiple deficiencies related to the aircraft’s refueling system. Deliveries resumed in May after a two-month hold related to the tanker’s boom, and the first KC-46 operational deployment started in October when tankers from Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst, N.J., landed in the Middle East.

In its release, Boeing noted that the KC-46 has “flown more than 100,000 flight hours and offloaded more than 200 million pounds of fuel.” 

The Air Force, meanwhile, is contemplating its future tanker plans as part of a broader look at how it approaches the air superiority mission—the service had envisioned a somewhat stealthy Next-Generation Aerial Refueling System (NGAS) to accompany the Next-Generation Air Dominance fighter into contested airspace, extending the fighter’s range. 

But Air Force Secretary Frank Kendall has admitted that with its current budget, the service cannot afford to buy NGAS, NGAD, and its planned Collaborative Combat Aircraft. Without more resources, leaders will have to decide what to prioritize. 

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2023년 10월의 10번 로트 계약 뉴스입니다. 

Latest KC-46 Lot Contract Award Leaves Only Three More to Go

Latest KC-46 Lot Contract Award Leaves Only Three More to Go

A KC-46A Pegasus assigned to the 916th Air Refueling Wing at Seymour Johnson Air Force Base, North Carolina, flies over North Carolina, June 6, 2022. The KC-46 is equipped with a refueling boom that is driven by a fly-by-wire control system which is able to refuel most fixed-wing, receiver-capable aircraft. (U.S. Air Force photo by Senior Airman Kimberly Barrera)

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Latest KC-46 Lot Contract Award Leaves Only Three More to Go

Nov. 30, 2023 | By John A. Tirpak

Boeing’s receipt of the 10th lot contract award for the KC-46 Pegasus this week leaves just three lots left to complete the Air Force’s buy of the tanker, although a further buy of 75 additional aircraft as a “bridge” to the Next-Generation Aerial-refueling System (NGAS) seems increasingly likely.

Boeing received a $2.3 billion award on Nov. 28 for a further 15 KC-46s, to be delivered by mid-2027. The award brings Boeing up to 143 aircraft on order under the fixed-price contract, leaving just 36 more to fill out the planned buy of 179 aircraft. The company has delivered 76 aircraft to the Air Force so far. The previous lot was awarded in January—also for $2.3 billion and 15 aircraft.

The existing firm-fixed-price contract limits the KC-46 program to 13 lots, the last of which is to be awarded in 2027. The last aircraft is to be delivered two years later. How many will be in each of the last few lots has not been determined.  

Boeing has so far written down more than $7 billion in losses on the program, which has suffered delays due to problems with the boom operator’s Remote Viewing System, boom stiffness, and supply chain and labor issues, among others. Boeing president and chief executive officer David Calhoun has pledged to shareholders that the company won’t be making any more lowball bids on defense contracts in order to secure long-term work.

Shortly after Boeing won the KC-46 contract in 2011, company officials said they believed some losses on the program were acceptable because they expected the type to become the global standard tanker, much as Boeing’s C-17 became the world standard oversize jet cargo plane. But the KC-46 has lost out on most tanker contests to the Airbus A330 Multi-Role Tanker Transport (MRTT). Internationally, Israel and Japan are the only customers so far for the KC-46, ordering four and six, respectively, although a sale to Italy seems likely.

In late October, Lockheed Martin announced it would not bid its LMXT air refueling plane—based on the MRTT, in partnership with Airbus—for the USAF’s “bridge tanker” requirement. Airbus subsequently said it will pursue the work on its own, but the Air Force has not committed to holding a bridge tanker competition. Air Force Secretary Frank Kendall has voiced skepticism that a competition would be worth the cost, given the size of the buy and the need to potentially create a new and unique organic logistics capability.

Kendall and Air Force acquisition executive Andrew Hunter have said the bridge tanker is meant to keep a USAF tanker in production until the NGAS—formerly the KC-Z—is developed and readied for service, sometime in the mid-2030s. The NGAS is to be a smaller aircraft with signature reduction meant to escort fighters, bombers, and Collaborative Combat Aircraft (CCAs) into contested airspace, where standard “tube and wing” commercially-derived aircraft like the KC-46 and MRTT cannot survive. While 75 is considered the minimum size fleet for the bridge tanker, USAF officials have said up to 150 may be bought if there are delays with the NGAS.

A Boeing spokesperson said the company will “continue to support the Air Force through the Analysis of Alternatives” for the bridge tanker, which Hunter told Congress in the spring would get underway this fall.

“We are confident that the U.S. Air Force will pursue the appropriate acquisition strategy to continue the recapitalization of the tanker fleet and meet the needs of the warfighter,” the Boeing spokesperson said.

In August, the Air Force picked JetZero to design and prototype a blended-wing-body (BWB) aircraft which will explore future tanker and cargo aircraft concepts. Northrop Grumman, which builds the B-21 bomber, is partnered with JetZero. The Air Force has said the BWB program will not necessarily lead directly to the NGAS.

Before withdrawing the LMXT, Lockheed touted the aircraft—which is substantially larger than the KC-46—as being a “mothership” for CCAs, able to stay on station just outside contested airspace for long periods, refueling combat jets as they enter and leave the battle zone. Airbus is likely to make a similar pitch.

Although not yet declared “operational,” the KC-46 has been performing real-world missions and participated in last summer’s Mobility Guardian exercise, making extended flights in excess of 30 hours.

Air Mobility Command has certified the KC-46 to refuel all Air Force types except the A-10, which must be air-refueled by the KC-135, the Eisenhower-era tanker which is expected to be ultimately replaced by the bridge tanker and NGAS.

The Air Force is also upgrading its KC-46s with enhanced communication suites and plans to make the aircraft a communications relay node.  

Thus far, the KC-46 fleet has logged more than 18,600 total flights, with 104,000 boom aerial refueling contacts and 183 million pounds of fuel offloaded, according to Boeing.

[withoutlove]

15여년전쯤 원래 플랜대로 에어버스/노스럽의 KC-45가 양산까지 들어갔다면 KC-46같은 지지부진은 없었을까요?

[위종민]

노스롭 B-21은 순조로이 진행되는 거 보면 보잉이 문제인 것 같아서 그 때 MRTT가 채택됐으면 지금하고는 좀 달랐을 것 같습니다.