Travis Air Force Base has received its first KC-46A Pegasus refueler aircraft after Boeing halted deliveries in February due to quality concerns.
Flaws were found in the forward pressure bulkhead that could have affected the tanker’s fuel system.
In March, the US Federal Aviation Administration completed an investigation and allowed the company to resume distribution.
The new KC-46A was delivered to the base in California on July 28, where it will be operated by the 6th and 9th Air Refueling Squadrons for the active component and the 70th and 79th Air Refueling Squadrons for the Air Force Reserve Command.
“This has required the concerted effort of all who fly, fix, support and heal as part of the mobility mission here at Travis and has translated directly into today’s capabilities,” 60th Air Mobility Wing commander Col. Derek Salmi said.
West Coast Pegasus Support Facility
In 2017, Travis AFB was selected as one of the preferred locations for new, active duty KC-46A units.
The US Air Force invested $136.2 million to build a three-bay, 174,300-square-foot (6,900 square meters) hangar at the base in 2018 in preparation to receive the aircraft. Construction was finalized in May this year.
After completion, the hangar will also serve as the US Department of Defense’s KC-46A support facility on the west coast.
Replacing KC-10 Extender
Travis AFB’s KC-46A is among those replacing the KC-10 Extender tankers.
This transition will make the KC-46A the “new face” of aerial refueling missions, further expanding US armed forces refueling and cargo capabilities across the globe.
“Beginning today, the KC-46 stands ready to take the baton pass from the most faithful of tankers, the KC-10 Extender, whose distinctive silhouette has graced the skies over Solano County for the past three decades and extended American power worldwide for more than 40 years with its defining characteristics of strength and class,” Salmi explained.
