KC-46 costs drop-delays loom

The GAO has announced that costs for the KC-46 have dropped in every area, but more delays are looming. Over all the program costs have dropped about 14%, or $7.3B. The fact that the Air Force made few changes to the requirements received credit for a large portion of the drop.

On the testing front, Boeing is going to have to step up in a big way to prevent delays. According to the GAO report, they will have to hit an average of over 1700 test points a month to remain on schedule. That's more than double what they've done in the last 11 months.

Cobham, who is building the WARP pods, has yet to supply the FAA with the required design drawings for the pods, which will delay certification for the pods, as well as electromagnetic testing for the aircraft.

www.flightglobal.com...

It seems like the military has refrained from "feature creep" as well and that will continue to drive down costs. Given that they have to foot the bill for some overruns they may step things up in a bigly way.

A recent AWST article talked about the USAF eyeing KC-135 improvements esp. in terms of survivability upgrades. We may yet see them flying for some time

a reply to: FredT

They have planned on both the KC-135 and B-52 on being around until at least 2040 for a long time now. They have a limited -135 fleet, but I'd be surprised if they retire before 2050.

I was just looking at the basing for the -46 and nothing on the west coast and points further west? ? You would think they would be ideal for Hickman and Anderson

a reply to: FredT

Hickam is a Guard unit. They won't see them for awhile. Travis was selected to get them along with McGuire. Fairchild and Grand Forks are alternates for those two.