Boeing continues to face difficulties with the KC-46a Pegasus, its tank plane designed for the US Air Force after discovering cracks in the primary and secondary structures of two KC-46a units, the Air Force has decided to temporarily stop the deliveries of these planes until the problems are solved. The inspections will also be extended to the 89 planes already delivered to determine if these have similar defects.
Since its conception in 2011, the development of the KC-46A He has been plagued with problems. Boeing won the tender to produce the tank plane, competing with Airbus Defense & Space, but its proposal at a fixed price resulted in additional costs due to a series of technical and mechanical failures. These include problems with wiring, fuel leaks, failures in the cameras system for flight refueling and defects in the replenishment arm, which caused a two -year delay in deliveries. The company has had to allocate More than 7,000 million dollars to try to correct these problems.
Despite the solutions implemented, the performance of the KC-46A has not improved significantly. According to the latest Pentagon report, The “mission capacity” rate of the plane decreased by 24% for 2024. This indicates that a lower proportion of the delivered aircraft can comply with the missions for which they were destined, due to the technical failures and the lack of parts for repairs.
In July, a new serious problem appeared when excessive vibrations were detected in the fuel pump of some aircraft, which affected the engine air sampling system. Although short -term solutions were implemented, the recent cracks of cracks in the planes have evidenced a new challenge. The cracks They were detected in the key structures of two units that were about to be deliveredwhich led to the Air Force to order an exhaustive inspection of the other aircraft in service and those that are in production.
Current corrective measures and new inspections
Boeing has assured that are working to identify the cause Root of cracks and take the necessary corrective measures to avoid future problems. In addition, the delivery of the KC-46a aircraft will be suspended until these inconveniences are solved. The planes delivered above will be subjected to repairs before returning to the operational service, with the aim of mitigating any impact on the US Air Force capabilities.
