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originally posted by: Zaphod58
The Air Force is expected to announce by the end of the month if it will go forward with a commercial refueling contract. Fourteen companies have expressed interest, and it's expected that they could reach IOC within a year of going forward. If it happens, the commercial tankers will be used for CONUS only missions, which will free up tankers for overseas missions. AMC estimates that the force is currently short 23-28 aircraft a day, for non-warfighting missions.
Currently, the Air Force sees a need for 6,000 hours of refueling time a year. Omega is currently the only company that has a boom equipped tanker. It's undergoing modification and inspections after being received from the Netherlands. Several companies have expressed interest in getting boom equipped A330MRTT airframes, as well as converting existing aircraft, like the 767.
www.defensenews.com...
since tankers are very expensive the military cant have a surplus of them around.
Third, with the exception of the boom redesign ($55M), Boeing IS paying for the issues with the KC-46.