A crew chief assigned to the 157th Air Refueling Wing marshalls in the new KC-46A Pegasus on Aug. 8, 2019, at Pease ANGB, N.H. 157th ARW photo by SrA. Victoria Nelson via Facebook.
The Air Force’s KC-46 fleet is growing.
Last week, Boeing delivered three KC-46s—one for McConnell AFB, Kan., and two for Pease ANGB, N.H. The Aug. 8 deliveries to Pease were the first next-generation tankers for the Air National Guard, and the base expects to have a 12-aircraft Pegasus fleet. McConnell now owns nine of the aircraft.
The deliveries come as Boeing continues to test the aircraft’s refueling system at Edwards AFB, Calif., with a C-5, F-22, B-2, and MV-22. Other recent tests included a multi-point refueling flight, during which a KC-46 refueled an F/A-18 from both the tanker’s wing pods and center drogue system, then refueled an F-16 using the main refueling boom, according to Boeing.