Boeing announced Tuesday that it has delivered the fourth KC-767 tanker to the Japanese Ministry of Defense, thereby completing Japan’s order for the new tankers. The handover took place Jan. 8. “Because of these tankers, Japan now has the capability to perform vital self-defense, refueling, and airlift missions,” said Dennis Muilenburg, president and CEO of Boeing Defense, Space, and Security. Delivery of the first three tankers occurred in February 2008, March 2008, and March 2009, respectively. Boeing also is supplying the Italian Air Force with four KC-767s. Three of those four are in flight test, while the fourth is still being modified. The company may also offer the US Air Force a version of the KC-767 in the KC-X tanker recapitalization contest. But it awaiting the release of the final KC-X solicitation to determine whether the larger KC-777 tanker design would be a better fit.
Every year, Congress and the military debate which combat assets should head to the boneyard and which have more life left in them. Lawmakers often opt to keep Air Force systems that bring jobs to their districts, which complicates matters as the service looks to modernize and ditch certain platforms.…