급유기 100년을 날아다닐 KC-135? 결론이 임박한 NGAS 사업

[위종민]

미공군 공중기동사령부 사령관이 현재 15인 신형 공중급유기 도입 속도로 보아 최소 기령 60년이 넘은 KC-135의 수명연장 개량을 또 실시해 2050년대까지 운용해야 한다고 3월 20일 Defense One과의 인터뷰에서 밝혔네요.

KC-135는 2010년대에 블록45 SLEP를 실시해 2040년대까지 수명을 연장했는데 10년~20년 가량 더 연장되는 샘입니다. 이미 근대화 개수로 항법사가 필요없어졌다고 합니다. 

또한 NGAS 대안 분석 작업이 마무리 과정중이며 3월 말 쯤 결론난다고 합니다만, 기사상의 뉘앙스론 거의 취소될 것 같습니다. 

Air Force May Need to Extend the KC-135 Service Life: AMC Boss

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Air Force May Need to Extend the KC-135 Service Life: AMC Boss

March 20, 2025 | By John A. Tirpak

At the Air Force’s current rate of 15 new aerial tankers a year, the service have to launch a service life extension program for its Eisenhower-era KC-135s, the head of Air Mobility Command said.

Meanwhile, leaders stressed the importance of more connectivity and survivability for AMC’s tanker fleet, even as they suggested they may be prepared to delay a new, stealthy refueling aircraft.

The Air Force “may need to look at service life extension, potentially, of the KC-135,” Gen. John D. Lamontagne said in a prerecorded interview with Defense One streamed March 20.

“Recapitalization of the tanker fleet is absolutely a priority,” he said, but “it’s going to take a really long time” to acquire replacements for the youngest KC-135s, all of which are more than 60 years old.

“We have continued to upgrade the KC-135, and we need to keep doing that,” Lamontagne said. “If we recapitalize the KC-135 to the tune of a squadron a year—which is typically how we acquire platforms—we’ll be flying the KC-135 into the 2050s. … I think that’s where we’re headed.”

That timeline would put the KC-135’s service life near 100 years. Already, the fleet has been re-engined, re-skinned, and received numerous structural and avionics upgrades since it was built. But the last major refresh of the fleet was in the 2010s, when the Block 45 upgrade gave the refueler additional capability and life to last into the 2040s.  

The KC-135 is “not the same airplane it was when it came into the inventory,” and no longer needs a navigator due to avionics improvements, Lamontagne said.

The general did not comment on how extensive a SLEP might be needed on the Stratotanker, but such programs are generally not undertaken unless the Air Force believes the cost can be recouped within 10-20 years through reduced maintenance and spare parts consumption, fuel efficiency, or other metrics.

For the mobility fleet writ large, “the next couple of upgrades need to be that beyond-line-of-sight connectivity; tactical data links, so we have good [situational awareness] on our environment,” Lamontagne said.

NGAS

A yearlong analysis of alternatives (AOA) on the Air Force’s future aerial tanking fleet is receiving “finishing touches,” Lamontagne said, and should be concluded by around the end of March.

The Air Force has dubbed its next planned tanker the Next-Generation Aerial refueling System, or NGAS.

“No decisions have been made” about NGAS, Lamontagne said, but he acknowledged that the way ahead will be affected by how the Trump administration chooses to proceed with the Next-Generation Air Dominance (NGAD) fighter.

Whether the NGAS moves ahead will be a budget-driven decision, Lamontagne said. If it is deferred, “I’ll just say there’s a variety of ways” for the KC-135 “to survive,” he added.

“We can continue to upgrade the fleet and put defensive systems on it, just like we’ve upgraded the navigation, the engines and more over the past decades,” he said. “We can also team up with other partners in the joint force and have them defend us. And so, a variety of ways to do it, even if we don’t pursue NGAS.”

In a separate interview with Defense One also streamed March 20, Chief of Staff Gen. David W. Allvin said NGAS is not necessarily an aircraft, but a system of aerial refueling, and if it is postponed, “there are other ways that you can enhance survivability of a refueling aircraft,” he said.

“You can do it through electronic warfare. You can do it through…escort support. So this is all part of the entire NGAS eval‎uation,” he said. “It just means a new way to ensure survivability in a denser threat environment. I think that that analysis will be ongoing.”

He also said a “baseline” approach to survivability “is connectivity. So, ensuring that we can have connectivity between our aerial refueling platforms and our airlift platforms and our fighter platform, that’s what that’s something we’re pursuing.”

The Air Force’s top force designer, Maj. Gen. Joseph D. Kunkel, recently said that NGAD, NGAS, and Collaborative Combat Aircraft are “a package deal,” and decisions made about any of the three affect the other two.

KC-46

Before NGAS, Lamontagne said the Air Force wants to keep tankers in production “without a break.” That’s led to descriptions of a “bridge” buy of 75 tankers; Boeing is considered the main contender with an upgraded version KC-46, but the AMC boss said the firm does not have a lock on the program. Other suppliers have credible tanker offerings, he said, some of which don’t require a human crew.

In the meantime, deliveries of the KC-46 are currently suspended as Boeing investigates the root cause of a series of cracks in an outboard wing trailing edge. Once that is accomplished, “it’s a pretty quick fix” with the appropriate spare parts, he said, and deliveries can resume. Eleven of 50 KC-46s inspected so far have had cracks in the structure, and another 39 are to be inspected within the next two weeks, he noted. He left it to Air Force Materiel Command to say when deliveries would resume, but “repair should flow pretty quickly” after the root cause is determined.

Most of the other, more chronic deficiencies with the KC-46 are still being worked on, Lamontagne reported.

“We have made a lot of progress,” he said. “Some number of those [Category 1] deficiencies have been taken off the board and resolved. A couple of others are in the works and will deliver within the next year or two.”

Future Tech

Lamontagne also speculated on the requirements for a future airlifter to succeed the C-5 and C-17—the Next-Generation Airlift aircraft, or NGAL—saying it will not only have to be stealthy, but will have more missions than simply hauling people and cargo.

“We’re doing the capabilities-based assessment right now,” he reported. “That will take a couple of months to deliver, and it is basically eval‎uating, ‘hey, what kind of capabilities do we need in the future?’”

Lamontagne said key factors will include cargo capacity, range, survivability, and connectivity.

“I’d also say, we shouldn’t just look at it as an airlifter. … We should be doing more than one thing on an airplane, and I think the CBA will eventually lead to an [analysis of alternatives] and hopefully tease out some of the capabilities and the right things to make our Air Force and the joint force stronger,” he said.

The Air Force has in recent years conducted “Rapid Dragon” experiments that involved dropping whole pallets of cruise missiles out the backs of airlifters.

Lamontagne also said AMC is watching progress with Collaborative Combat Aircraft closely. He believes “the sky’s the limit” on how the technology of autonomous aircraft could be applied to the mobility mission.

“I could see a future where we are delivering [CCAs] maybe through the air,” he said, though for now AMC will just support the drones logistically.

Looking further down the road, though, the general said he could envision “unmanned airlifters, unmanned tankers.” CCA technology is moving “very, very rapidly,” he said, “And I think there’s a lot of opportunity in front of us in that space. … I think this is all very much in the realm of possible.”

Air

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차라리 잠정대책인 셈 치고 MRTT를 들이는 게... 하긴 이 시국에 에어버스 기체를 살 순 없겠지만요. (먼 산) ; 얼마 전에도 NGAD가 우선이고 NGAS 순위가 밀렸다는 기사를 보면, 접근거부시대에 급유기의 생존성을 어떻게 보장할 것인가에 대한 답이 꼭 급유기 단독으로서 스텔스기를 만드는 것만 있진 않다고 하더군요. 시스템적인 접근도 가능하다는데, 급유임무 시 미끼용 드론을 잔뜩 깔아놓기라도 하려나 싶습니다.

[위종민]

KC-46 대신 MRTT 뽑았으면 문제가 덜하지 않았을까 싶은데, 컨스털레이션급 FFG 도입사업 삐걱거리는 거 보면 꼭 그렇지 않을 수도 있겠습니다.

system of aerial refueling 이라는데, 큰 비행기는 안전한 공역에서 탱크 이빠이 채워주고, 위험공역에선 스팅레이같은 스텔스 무인 급유기로 잠깐잠깐 앵꼬나지 않을 정도로만 채워준다거나 할 수도 있겠습니다.