News / Military
By Howard Altman / Tampa Bay Times / June 4, 2016
PHOTO: Crews prepare to move KC-135 air refueling jets in 2012. The base is scheduled to receive eight additional KC-135 tankers, bringing its fleet to 24. (Times file 2012)
TAMPA — There is a new delay in the launch of new KC-46 Pegasus aerial refueling tankers but it should not affect MacDill Air Force Base, said U.S. Rep. Kathy Castor, who has been leading the charge to bring the new planes to the base and obtain additional older ones.
MacDill wasn’t selected for the first round of the new tankers, but it is line to get more of the older KC-135 tanker planes they’re replacing.
This is despite Boeing’s new issues with refueling booms on the KC-46 tanker planes now in development, Castor said in a statement to the Tampa Bay Times.
“Over the next decade, MacDill is well-positioned to attract additional KC-135s, related missions and even the KC-46 as they are developed through 2027,” Castor said.
Adding more KC-135s to MacDill’s existing fleet of the tankers required the eviction of another unit now stationed at the base — the Aircraft Operations Center of the National Oceanic Administration and its hurricane hunting fleet.
Moving eight KC-135s to MacDill will bring its total number of the tankers to 24, shared between the 6th Air Mobility Wing and the 927th Air Refueling Wing.
In 2011, Boeing was awarded a contract to build 179 new tankers, estimated by the Government Accounting Office to cost about $287 million apiece. The program has been delayed by wiring and software problems, and last month, the Air Force and Boeing announced that delivery of the first 18 new jets will be delayed in the process of certifying the refueling systems.
The first tanker delivery will move from March 2017 to August 2017, according to Boeing spokesman Charles Ramey.
“It is important to note that those systems have performed as planned during Milestone C testing — functionality is not the issue,” Ramey said. “It’s just taken longer to get through the qualification testing needed for certification.”
Air Force Brig. Gen. Duke Richardson, program executive officer for tankers, said the service was optimistic Boeing would address any issues and meet its original goal.
“However, we understand that no major procurement program is without challenges,” Richardson said, “and the Air Force remains committed to ensuring all aircraft are delivered as technically required.”
Air Force officials say the Pegasus program remains one of the service’s top priorities.
There’s a lot riding locally on the Pegasus program. Castor said bringing additional jets to the base, along with additional personnel and construction jobs to prepare the base, could mean tens of millions of dollars to the local economy.
Castor said the MacDill effort, which brought community leaders together to compete for the first wave of the new jets, is gearing up again as the base competes with 10 others for what the Air Force describes as either 24 or 36 new tankers in the next round.
The Air Force is considering all continental U.S. bases and those with certain active duty-led missions and a runway of 7,000 feet or greater, said Ann Stefanek, an Air Force spokeswoman.
The flying branch already has started the screening process to identify potential locations for the new jets, but Stefanek said earlier this year that “it is too early to tell how many installations will be selected.”
The Pentagon last week announced the death of a sailor who was supporting Operation Inherent Resolve, the fight against the Islamic State group.
Gunner’s Mate Seaman Connor Alan McQuagge, 19, of Utah, died May 26 of a noncombat-related injury while under way in the Red Sea with the USS Harpers Ferry. The incident is under investigation.
There have been 2,347 U.S. troop deaths in support of Operation Enduring Freedom in Afghanistan, 21 U.S. troop deaths and one civilian Department of Defense employee death in support of the followup Operation Freedom’s Sentinel in Afghanistan, and 16 troop deaths and one civilian death in support of Operation Inherent Resolve.
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