Today, the average U.S. Air Force tanker is 43 years old, says
Bob Gower, VP for the 767 Tanker program at Boeing's Integrated
Defense and Space Division. If Boeing's proposal to lease 100
new 767 tankers to the USAF -- approved in May -- proceeds as
planned, the average age of the fleet in 2011 will be43 years.
"The idea is not to modernize the fleet but to stop the aging
process," Gower says.
Boeing's strategy to pursue the world's tanker market on a commercial
basis is paying off, Gower says. "We launched the 767 tanker
as a commercial development program," he says, "because
we saw pent-up demand and we wanted to be the first to market.
We launched it internationally with the intent to bring it back
to the U.S.-it's usually the other way around."
In mid-July, the first 767 tanker will leave the Everett factory
and go to Wichita, where its refueling equipment will be installed.
It will be delivered to the Italian air force in late 2005, followed
by three more aircraft that will be modified in Naples by Alenia's
Aeronavali unit. In March, Boeing received a firm contract for
the first of four 767 tankers for the Japanese Air Self-Defense
Force, to be delivered in 2007.
Gower is confident of further orders. Australia is expected to
issue a request for tenders this summer, and Korea, the United
Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia are other early potential markets.
The USAF lease is the big prize that Boeing has had in its sights
all along. "Under the best case, we could be under contract
at the end of June," said Gower in mid-May. There is no formal
requirement for Congressional approval, but, says Gower, "we
could get a lot of questions." Arizona Senator John McCain
has savagely attacked the deal as a bailout for Boeing.
Under the lease, the USAF should receive 20 new tankers a year,
starting in 2006. A specially formed, non-profit company, independently
financed, will buy the aircraft from Boeing and collect $138 million
in lease payments from the USAF for each aircraft, starting when
the aircraft are delivered, says Gower. "You don't pay General
Motors while they build your car." Each aircraft is leased
for six years; if the USAF does buy the aircraft at the end of
their lease, under a $4 billion option, it would do so from FY12
to FY17.
The 100 KC-767s will replace the USAF's KC-135Es-aircraft that
were retrofitted with second-hand Pratt & Whitney JT3D engines
rather than the new CFM56 (F108) engines fitted to the KC-135R.
Ultimately, Boeing expects to replace most or all of the USAF's
545-plus KC-135s with 767s.
The 767 tanker is flexible. Italy's aircraft include four refueling
devices-the flying boom and Smiths Aerospace hose-and-drogue units
(HDUs) on the centerline and under the outer wings-and an Alenia
interior that can accommodate 200 people, 19 freight pallets,
or 100 seats and ten pallets in a Combi layout. Auxiliary underfloor
fuel tanks are available, but the relatively large wing and centerline
holds enough fuel for most missions.
One new feature, on show here, is the Remote Aerial Refueling
Operator II (RARO II). The 767 boomer no longer lies flat in the
tail, but operates a fly-by-wire boom from a seated station behind
the cockpit. A similar system is used on the Netherlands' KDC-10
tankers, but RARO II includes 3-D electronic goggles. Fed by two
cameras under the tail, located 18 inches apart, the goggles "are
a great improvement, particularly at night."
