Ramona Adams
Boeing and the U.S Air Force sent a joint aircrew aboard Boeing’s KC-46 tanker to refuel an F/A-18 aircraft on Feb. 10.
The company said Friday the KC-46’s air refueling operator offloaded fuel to the F/A-18 at 20,000 feet during the four-hour flight.
The refueling mission put the tanker aircraft’s hose-and-drogue system to test for the first time.
Boeing and the Air Force previously air refueled an F-16 jet using the KC-46’s boom system on Jan. 24.
The boom system works to offload up to 1,200 gallons of fuel per minute while the hose-and-drogue system aims to refuel smaller aircraft with up to 400 gallons of fuel per minute, Boeing said.
The company added it plans to construct 179 KC-46 tanker aircraft to refuel U.S., allied and coalition military aircraft.
