Darwin McDaniel
Boeing has completed the second phase of a certification test for the KC-46 Pegasus aerial tanker at Edwards Air Force Base in California.
A team of Boeing and U.S. Air Force crews tested the tanker over three weeks with the military service’s F-15E as receiver aircraft and conducted flights at different altitudes, configurations and airspeeds, Boeing said Monday.
The Air Force and the Aerial Refueling Certification Agency plan to review test data.
Mike Gibbons, Boeing’s KC-46A tanker vice president and program manager, said the partnership expects to commence the initial operational and evaluation test next year.
“We are seeing great progress in both test and production and expect the positive momentum to continue as we begin delivering aircraft,†Gibbons added.
The service is scheduled to begin Phase III receiver certification tests of the company’s tanker with additional receiver aircraft in 2019 at Edwards AFB.
Boeing is contracted to produce 52 KC-46s for the Air Force.
