A KC-46A Pegasus arrives at McConnell Air Force Base, Kan., Jan. 31, 2019. (Airman 1st Class Alexi Myrick/US Air Force)

WASHINGTON: This year Japan celebrated Halloween by taking ownership of its first KC-46 aerial refueling tanker, becoming the first international operator of the often-troubled Boeing plane.

Boeing delivered the first KC-46 to the Japan Air Self-Defense Force on Oct. 31, about four years after a $289 million contract was signed in December 2017.

“This is an exciting and historic moment for the Japan Air Self-Defense Force and Boeing as Japan joins the United States with the world’s most advanced, proven and safe multi-mission combat aerial refueling capability,” said James Burgess, Boeing vice president and program manager for the KC-46. “We are looking forward to decades of partnership with our Japan customer to ensure aircraft mission effectiveness and enable the success of the JASDF.”

The KC-46 tanker is a modified version of the Boeing 767 airliner that can double as a cargo and passenger transport plane, carrying up to 18 military standard pallets when in its cargo configuration.

Japan’s version of the aircraft will be able to refuel JASDF aircraft as well as those from the US Air Force, Navy and Marine Corps and is “equipped with robust defensive and tactical situational awareness systems,” Boeing said in a release.

Japan has ordered a total of four KC-46s, and its second aircraft is currently under construction at Boeing’s 767 production line in Everett, Wash. According to the company, Japanese vendors are responsible for 16% of the airframe’s structure.

So far, 48 KC-46s have been delivered to the US Air Force since 2019, but its development has been fraught with technical issues. The aircraft has six critical deficiencies that have kept the service from being able to declare the tanker fully operational.

The most serious issues revolve around the Remote Vision System — a suite of cameras and sensors that provide imagery needed to safely steer the tanker’s boom into the aircraft receiving fuel. The Air Force contends that the video from the current RVS can become difficult to see in certain situations, making it hard for boom operators to refuel another aircraft without increased risk of scratching its airframe.

Because Boeing is locked into a firm-fixed price contract with the Air Force, it is designing a “Remote Vision System 2.0” that will fix current problems on its own dime.

However, it’s unclear whether the JASDF KC-46s will also receive the new RVS system and corrections to open deficiencies, and if so, whether Japan will have to pay for it. Boeing declined to comment on the matter, referring questions to the Air Force. The Air Force, for its part, referred questions to JASDF.

The lead up to the first Japanese KC-46 delivery also did not pass without its share of controversy.

In April, the Air Force awarded Boeing an $88 million contract for KC-46 spare parts on behalf of Japan. However, the service later confirmed that it could not establish whether $10 million of those costs met the Defense Department’s criteria for being “fair and reasonable,” reported Defense News in June.

Boeing maintained that the rise in price for certain parts was driven by the pandemic’s impact on the commercial aerospace industry. One particular part, which now costs 15 times more than the US Air Force previously paid for it, had been mistakenly sold to the US at the wrong price in prior contracts, the company said.

Ultimately, Japan and the US Air Force opted to move ahead with the contract so that the JASDF would have the spare parts it needed once the aircraft was delivered this year, officials stated at the time.