Japan selected Boeing’s KC-46A Pegasus to augment the Japan Air Self Defense Force’s existing tanker fleet, becoming Pegasus’ first export customer, Japan’s Ministry of Defense stated in a release. “We look forward to working alongside the US g?overnment to help Japan expand its aerial refueling capabilities with Boeing’s next-generation KC-46 tanker,” Boeing wrote in a statement to Air Force Magazine, Oct. 27. The JASDF currently operates a fleet of four KC-767s and plans to purchase three KC-46As to expand its aerial refueling capacity. Japan’s existing tankers were delivered through 2010, and are based on a slightly shorter variant of Boeing’s 767. Airbus declined to offer its A330 Multi-Role Tanker Transport in Japan’s KC-X competition, citing selection criteria that favored Boeing’s design, reported Flight Global. The fully provisioned KC-46 made its maiden flight in September. The US is also providing six surplus KC-130R tankers, refurbished from storage at Davis-Monthan AFB, Ariz., under a separate foreign military sales deal.
JADC2 Spurring Changes to Fighter Jets, Ops Centers
Dec. 2, 2020
Aerospace experts offered a peek into how joint all-domain command and control might begin changing the Air Force over the next few years, during RAND Corp.’s West Coast Aerospace Forum on Dec. 2. Expect the upcoming fiscal 2022 and 2023 budgets to majorly accelerate combat networking demonstrations and related technology…