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🇺🇸 Boeing KC-46 Pegasus
Air · Boeing (ABD) · 2019
The KC-46 Pegasus is a Boeing 767-based aerial tanker with a fly-by-wire refueling boom and wing drogue pods; it multiplies the range and sortie rate of a whole air package, though it spent years fixing its Remote Vision System.
Specifications
- Type: Aerial refueling tanker / strategic transport aircraft
- Manufacturer / Origin: Boeing Defense, Space & Security — USA
- Derived platform: Boeing 767-2C airframe
- Dimensions: Length 50.5 m · wingspan 48.1 m · height 15.9 m
- Max takeoff weight: 188,240 kg (415,000 lb)
- Engine: 2 × Pratt & Whitney PW4062 turbofans, each ~276 kN thrust
- Speed / Ceiling: Max ~915 km/h · cruise ~850 km/h · ceiling ~13,100 m
- Range: ~11,800 km (global with aerial refueling)
- Fuel transfer: 212,000 lb fuel capacity; ~94,200 kg transferable; boom 1,200 gpm, drogue 400 gpm
- Refueling systems: Fly-by-wire boom + centerline and wing-under hose-drogue (simultaneous multi-type)
- Crew: 3 (2 pilots + 1 boom operator), up to 15 seats total
- Service year: Since January 2019 (first flight 2015)
Beats: KC-135 Stratotanker (ABD) — fly-by-wire boom, çok daha fazla sensör/bağlantı ve eşzamanlı drogue yeteneğiyle yaşlı emsalini geride bırakır, Il-78 Midas (Rusya) — 767-tabanlı KC-46, modern fly-by-wire boom, gelişmiş aviyonik ve çok-rol kargo/medevac dönüşümüyle 1980'ler Sovyet Il-78'ini geride bırakır, A330 MRTT (Çok-uluslu) — tek uçakta hem rijit boom hem ikiz kanat-drogue sunarak hem ABD hem NATO/donanma alıcılarını aynı sortide besler
Loses to: Airbus A330 MRTT (Çok-Uluslu/Avrupa) — daha büyük gövde, daha fazla yakıt/kargo yükü ve olgun, sorunsuz görüş sistemiyle ihracat pazarında baskın, A330 MRTT (Çok-Uluslu) — KC-46'nın yıllardır süren RVS uzaktan görüş kusurları yerine kanıtlanmış doğrudan-görüş boom operatör güveni sunar, Il-78 Midas (Rusya) — birim ve program maliyeti çok daha düşük; KC-46 program-edinim maliyeti uçak başına ~287 milyon dolara ulaşır
The KC-46 can refuel both boom-equipped USAF jets and drogue-equipped Navy/NATO aircraft in one sortie, plus carry cargo and patients. Its long-running Category-1 deficiency was the Remote Vision System (RVS), with a corrected RVS 2.0 fielding mid-decade. As an unarmed tanker it is a defenseless high-value asset, but as a force multiplier it is central to long-range air operations.
Related systems
Same manufacturer (Boeing (ABD)): E-7T Barış Kartalı, AH-64 Apache, F/A-18 Super Hornet, Boeing E-3 Sentry, C-17 Globemaster III, EA-18G Growler, Quickstrike-ER
Related systems (Air): KAAN, Bayraktar KIZILELMA, ANKA-3, Bayraktar TB2, Bayraktar Akıncı, Vyriy OPTO 10, Skydagger, AKBABA, GÖKTUĞ (Gökdoğan/Bozdoğan), SOM
