"Aerial refueling capacity has historically been a major constraint on the tempo of operations, and it’s likely the case today," Tim Walton, a senior fellow at the Hudson Institute, told Breaking Defense.
A recent Air Force document provides the clearest insight yet into the service’s evolving tanker strategy, as well as what might be needed to continue the production run of Boeing’s KC-46 Pegasus air refueler.
The Sixth Domain is not defined by geography. It’s a new kind of conflict in which autonomy and networked systems allow thousand-dollar consumer electronics to destroy multi-million-dollar conventional weapons systems.
The ministry said it also plans to heavily invest in first-person-view drones.
A lawmaker has asked the Air Force about its plans to fund necessary upgrades to the Michigan base, and urged the service to act "swiftly."
An analysis by AEI conducted in partnership with Breaking Defense scoured thousands of pages of fiscal 2026 Pentagon budget documents, some of the most definitive accounting yet for DOGE’s impact at the Department of Defense.
The Air Force’s statement brings to end to more than a year of speculation about its strategy for a “bridge tanker” meant to fill the gap between the KC-46 and its Next Generation Air Refueling System (NGAS), formerly called KC-Z.
As threats rapidly evolve, digital engineering, manufacturing capacity and robust supply chains are critical to meeting challenges.
The services’ unfunded requests, obtained by Breaking Defense, reflect sharp increases compared to last year.
The Air Force plans to use the Boeing KC-46 Pegasus’s Capability Production Document “as the most affordable requirements basis” for the new program, potentially giving the embattled aerospace manufacturer a leg up in a competition.
Turkish defense expert Barin Kayaoglu told Breaking Defense that the decision to buy new tankers is a “big need, and timely.”
The US Air Force halted acceptance of the troubled tanker in February, following cracks discovered on the aircraft’s “outboard fixed fixed-trailing-edge support structure.”
Government can’t stop to update systems, so modernization has to happen without interruptions.
The new timeline is a setback for the beleaguered tanker, whose deliveries have been halted since February.
The deals include seven new P-8s and 15 KC-46s.