Steady production no guarantee of KC-46 avoiding further troubles
A KC-46A Pegasus tanker prepares for landing at McConnell Air Force Base, Kansas. (Photo: USAF),
As Boeing continues to maintain a strong KC-46 production record, will negotiations between the manufacturer and the USAF on a RVS 2.0 baseline configuration prove pivotal to overcoming technical difficulties?
Boeing’s impressive record of delivering 55 KC-46A Pegasus tankers to the USAF in just over two years has been blighted by difficulties in developing a fully functional remote vision system, but new problems linked to panoramic display system deficiencies are also being exposed.
The major effort underway by the manufacturer to fix technical faults, more commonly listed by the USAF as Category 1 deficiencies, sits under the RVS 2.0 engineering design effort that will eventually integrate new 4K colour cameras with accurate viewing geometry, larger screens for air refuelling operator stations and a distance range finder for refuelling receiver aircraft.
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