KC-46 tanker upgrades to be accelerated by U.S. Air Force, Boeing
NewsMay 13, 2026
ARLINGTON, Virginia. The U.S. Air Force and Boeing have agreed to a plan to improve KC-46 Pegasus tanker readiness and speed up delivery of aircraft upgrades to the fleet, the Air Force announced in a statement.
The effort centers on three areas: using early-build aircraft to support operations, accelerating the Remote Vision System 2.0 upgrade, and creating a performance-based logistics effort aimed at readiness issues, the statement reads.
The Air Force says the plan, combined with its fiscal year 2027 budget request, is expected to increase KC-46 aircraft availability by more than 20% by 2030. The service also projects a near-term availability increase of about 6%, according to the statement.
As part of the plan, the Air Force will repurpose five early-build aircraft to provide dedicated test assets and move spare parts from three non-operational aircraft into the operational fleet, the service says. Those parts include engines and landing gear.
The Remote Vision System 2.0 retrofit, scheduled to begin fielding in early 2028, will be bundled with depot-level maintenance, reducing the retrofit timeline from 13 years to seven years, the statement reads.
Boeing and the Air Force also plan a temporary five-year performance-based logistics agreement focused on the aerial-refueling subsystem and other components tied to aircraft availability, the Air Force says.
