Senator Roberts: Air Force Set to Receive First KC-46 Tanker Today, Delivery to McConnell Later this Month

Press Release

U.S. Senator Pat Roberts today announced The Boeing Company has announced the first KC-46 Pegasus tanker will be delivered to McConnell Air Force Base in Wichita in late January.

"I am pleased the long awaited KC--46 will soon be in the capable hands of the men and women of the 22nd and the 931st Aerial Re-fueling Wings at McConnell," Roberts said. "They have been preparing and training to receive the first of the fleet and they are ready to fuel the fight."

The Boeing KC-46 Pegasus will replace the aging KC-135 Stratotanker.

McConnell Air Force Base will bed down a total of 36 aircraft.

Since 2001, Senator Roberts has led the charge in Kansas to replace the Air Force's aging, "Eisenhower-era" tanker fleet with an American-made plane. The Senator first called for a replacement to the KC-135 as a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee and as Chairman of the Subcommittee on Emerging Threats and Capabilities.

During an Armed Services Committee hearing, Roberts held up a piece of corroded metal from a KC-135 to illustrate to his colleagues on the committee the unsafe, unsecure, and unacceptable conditions our airmen were forced to deal with when operating the current, dated aircraft.

During the hearing, the Senator noted that due to the significant maintenance requirements of the tanker, 40 percent of the fleet was grounded at any given time. Fortunately, the Senator's passion for the issue helped convince the authorizers, and later the appropriators, that the Air Force must solicit bids for a replacement tanker.

Following a long and controversial procurement process, Boeing was eventually awarded the contract, with delivery of the planes set for 2017. Delays in production and testing have pushed delivery to 2019.

In 2014, McConnell's 22nd Air Refueling Wing and 931st Reserve Air Refueling Group were named the first to operate, maintain, and command the new tanker in the Air Force.

In 2015, due to Senator Roberts' strong support and consistent advocacy, the Air Force announced the 931st would become an Air Refueling Wing, adding 400 reservists to McConnell.

Senator Roberts is a former Marine and is an outspoken advocate for Kansas' military installations, men and women in uniform and their families.

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