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TRAVIS AIR FORCE BASE, Calif. – Air Force officials announced Travis Air Force Base, as a preferred location for the next active duty led KC-46A Pegasus mission Jan. 12.
The current plan calls for the KC-46A, a modernized aerial-refueling aircraft, to replace the Travis KC-10 Extender fleet of nearly 30 aircraft at some point in the future.
“We are excited for this enhanced refueling capability that will allow us to continue to ‘Rapidly Project American power anytime...anywhere,’" said Col. John Klein Jr., 60th Air Mobility Wing commander. “The decision is also a testament to the unprecedented support from our community who understands Travis' critical role in enabling worldwide military operations. Looking forward, we've got a lot work ahead of us and we are grateful for the new responsibility.”
The KC-46A offers similar capabilities as the KC-10 such as the ability to refuel multiple aircraft at the same time, supporting aeromedical evacuation missions and transporting cargo or personnel.
However, the Air Force’s newest refueling aircraft offers a range of enhanced capabilities.
“The KC-10 has been a workhorse airplane since arriving at Travis,” said Col. Christopher Maddox, 60th Operations Group commander. “The airplane and its crews are constantly deployed in support of operations in Southwest Asia and presidential movements worldwide. The constant use has worn on the airframes, which are beginning to show their age with reduced maintenance reliability. The KC-46 will reap huge benefits for Travis, the Air Force and our warfighters due to aircraft reliability.”
In 2016, the Travis KC-10 fleet flew 1,112 sorties out of TAFB off-loading more than 170 million pounds of fuel valued at more than $55 million.
Maddox said the KC-46, which is actually smaller than the KC-10, was designed to provide a more robust aerial refueling platform in contested airspace beyond anything the KC-10 or the KC-135 Stratotanker could provide.
“The added versatility of the KC-46 will be the greatest benefit to the Air Force and combatant commanders we support,” he said. “From the Pegasus's ability to refuel any aircraft in the DoD fleet to added defensive systems for operating in contested airspace to advancing the aeromedical evacuation mission while continuing to support our aerial refueling and cargo missions, the KC-46 will take the Air Force's tanker fleet into the 21st century.”
Travis AFB supports the AE mission with the 349th Aeromedical Evacuation Squadron. The unit deploys Airmen in a variety of specialties to help care for wounded service members using aircraft like the C-17 Globemaster III, KC-135 and C-130 Hercules to transport wounded warriors.
The KC-46 will enhance this capability and ensure wounded warriors get the care they need, Maddox said.
“The aeromedical evacuation capability is a new mission set for the tanker fleet at Travis,” said Maddox. “While our C-17s are already involved in the AE capacity, having another two squadron's worth of AE capability will vastly increase the velocity with which we are able to get wounded warriors to the care they need. Having this increased ability at Travis is especially beneficial since they will be co-located with David Grant USAF Medical Center, which is the largest military treatment facility in the Air Force.”
Welcoming the Pegasus to Travis will also mean changes at the base and in the community, Maddox added.
“The KC-46 transition will be a sea-change event at Travis,” he said. “Our community will notice the airplanes are quieter than the KC-10s they will replace, our crews and partners on Travis will notice renovations and new construction associated with the arrival of the airplane, and the combatant commanders we support will notice better reliability and flexibility.”
“The Air Force will notice decreased fuel costs associated with the two engine design as opposed to the KC-10's older three engine design,” said Maddox. “Travis's identity will change some with the arrival of the first two-engine airplane, but we will continue to be the wing Air Mobility Command looks to for worldwide mobility.”
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