KC-135: 50 Years of Refueling

[tankerboss]

The Air Force awarded Northrop Grumman a contract to build the KC-45 to replace the KC-135 Stratotanker. The first KC-135 was delivered to Castle Air Force Base, California in June 1957 and the last one was delivered to the Air Force in 1965. This makes the average KC-135 nearly 50 years old. Though loyal to the aircraft, those within the community recognize the need to invest in a new tanker not because the aircraft is not capable, but because of its age.

Its age comes increased problems such as Fuel lines leak, gear struts break, corrosion is rampant and replacement parts are becoming hard to come by. Most suppliers have either gone out of business or have gone on to build parts for newer aircraft.

The aircrafts are on a set schedule that determines when they are sent to the Oklahoma City Air Logistics Center at Tinker AFB for a complete overhaul. The tankers receive new paint and any other identified repairs, which include replacing the boom, horizontal stabilizer terminal fittings and fuel bladders.

The KC-135 is anticipated to stay in the fleet until 2040, and the Kc-145 is expected to join the Air Force in 2013.
:coffee

[Mod edit]
Welcome to the forum - but . . . it would be appreciated if you would add some input of your own, and some prompts for debate when starting a thread. It's appropriate in a discussion forum, as this is. Also, this is rather close to the other tanker thread you've begun. Perhaps more general threads might be better.

The rules can be found here - http://defencetalk.com/forums/rules.php

PJI
[/Mod edit]

 

[F-15 Eagle]

They are not going to replace all 500 tankers with just 179 new ones are they? I figured the first batch of KC-45s will be about 179 of them followed on by more and until they have 500 is that true?

 

[swerve]

They are not going to replace all 500 tankers with just 179 new ones are they? I figured the first batch of KC-45s will be about 179 of them followed on by more and until they have 500 is that true?

You're right that 179 is only meant to be a partial replacement, but there's no guarantee that the rest of the requirement will be filled by the same type (though it does seem logical), & the total number will probably be less than the RC-135s, as 1) the new tankers will have fewer aircraft to refuel & 2) they'll carry more fuel, further, than the KC-135s.

 

[F-15 Eagle]

You're right that 179 is only meant to be a partial replacement, but there's no guarantee that the rest of the requirement will be filled by the same type (though it does seem logical), & the total number will probably be less than the RC-135s, as 1) the new tankers will have fewer aircraft to refuel & 2) they'll carry more fuel, further, than the KC-135s.

So they might build 400 new tankers? I think it would be cheeper to just build one type of tanker than multiple kinds with the tight defense budgets the Air Force has these days. I miss the good old cold war days when defense budgets were fat.....

 

[AegisFC]

So they might build 400 new tankers? I think it would be cheeper to just build one type of tanker than multiple kinds with the tight defense budgets the Air Force has these days. I miss the good old cold war days when defense budgets were fat.....

The budgets are just as bloated as ever just the money is going elsewhere.