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A new government report warns the Air Force may repeat past mistakes with the KC-46A Pegasus tanker by approving a redesign of the remove vision system without taking several precautions.
The Air Force did not concur with the recommendations of the Government Accountability Office, which released its report last week.
GAO officials noted that the KC-46 is one of the Air Force’s highest acquisition priorities, intended to replace one-third of the aging air refueling tanker fleet. But the plane, built by Boeing, has had numerous issues since it was fielded, including several critical deficiencies that could cause death or injury or loss or damage to aircraft.
Two deficiencies relate to the remote vision system, which includes cameras and a display that allows operators to observe and reposition the boom to refuel aircraft in flight. The system currently cannot be used to perform all aerial refueling mission due to issues in operating amid changing light conditions.
The GAO report noted that despite the delays, the government’s financial risk has been limited due to the ceiling price of its contract with Boeing. However, investigators said the Air Force is preparing to accept a proposed redesign for the remote vision system and assume financial responsibility without assessing the system’s technology readiness level, developing a plan to bring the system’s immature technologies to appropriate technology readiness levels, and integrating and testing the system prototype in an operational environment.
“Without taking these steps prior to closing the preliminary design review, the program may accept a remote vision system design that contains immature technologies and greater risk of cost and schedule growth,” the GAO warned.
The GAO report was released a day after Boeing reported a $402 million charge on the KC-46A tanker program as part of an earnings call, according to Defense News.
The charge contributed to an overall drop in Boeing’s reported defense sales in the last quarter of 2021, which was nearly $5.9 billion, a drop from $6.8 billion in the last quarter of 2020.
New Hampshire’s 157th Air Refueling Wing is currently the only Air National Guard operating the KC-46.
