What project 655271 buys
Replacement of the legacy tanker fleet will take place in several stages. The initial tanker replacement increment of KC-46As will replace roughly a third of the current capability. Future programs will ultimately recapitalize the entire tanker fleet over a period of more than 30 years. The Air Force completed an Analysis of Alternatives (AoA) in Apr 2006 to determine the most appropriate strategy to recapitalize the aging fleet of aerial refueling aircraft. Based on this analysis, the Air Force concluded a strategy of full and open competition to select a commercial derivative replacement tanker aircraft would result in a best value tanker contract. To initiate the first phase of the tanker replacement, the KC-46A program released a final Request for Proposal (RFP) on 24 Feb 2010, and entered source selection on 9 Jul 2010. The KC-46A program held a Milestone B (MS B) Defense Acquisition Board (DAB) on 23 Feb 2011, received approval to enter Engineering and Manufacturing Development (EMD) from the Undersecretary of War (Acquisition and Sustainment) (USD[A&S]) on 24 Feb 2011, and awarded the KC-46A EMD contract to Boeing on 24 Feb 2011 to develop and procure 179 KC-46 aircraft. The program procured four RDT&E aircraft for integration and demonstration of capability which will ultimately be operationally fielded. During production, and with the recent program of record increase, the program plans to procure 184 production aircraft throughout 13 lots (+4 EMD aircraft) for a total of 188 aircraft. The KC-46A program held a MS C DAB on 12 Aug 2016 and received approval to enter Low Rate Initial Production (LRIP). The program has awarded LRIP lots 1-12 with lot 12 put on contract 25 Nov 2025 bringing total number of aircraft to 169 on the production contract. As of 24 Feb 2026, 103 aircraft have been delivered to the Air Force via DD250. Initial sustainment effort is provided via Interim Contractor Support (ICS) as the program is transitioning to organic sustainment.
- Product Development
- Support
- Test and Evaluation
Project 655271 funding, FY2025–FY2031
Prior years are actuals, the budget year is the request, and the outyears are the FYDP plan. Estimate types are colored and never summed into one figure. Projects carry the full five-year plan; the activities inside them stop at the budget year.
| Fiscal Year | Estimate Type | Amount ($M) |
|---|---|---|
| FY2025 | Actual | 27.6 |
| FY2026 | Enacted | 34.6 |
| FY2027 | Request | 155.1 |
| FY2028 | Outyear | 67.8 |
| FY2029 | Outyear | 20.0 |
| FY2030 | Outyear | 10.0 |
| FY2031 | Outyear | 10.0 |
4 accomplishments / planned programs
The R-2A exhibit — the only level of the budget that describes work that has not happened yet. Activities carry the prior, current and budget year only, no five-year plan. 2 of them describe FY2027 work in enough detail to have their own page; the rest are shown here in full. Coverage is partial across the corpus, so count activities, never total them.
Will continue product refinement, studies, ground, and flight testing in support of the KC-46 weapon system to include receiver certifications, simulator data collection, and completion of IOT&E events/reporting. Incrementally fund boom telescope actuator redesign (BTAR) Engineering Change Proposal (ECP) efforts and solution for Remote…
Read the FY2027 plan →Will continue Test and Evaluation activities to include but not limited to Development Test & Evaluation, Operational Test & Evaluation, Tanker Qualification, Receiver Certifications, Live Fire Test & Evaluation (LFT&E).
Read the FY2027 plan →FY2027 planned work Will continue ATS Night Vision Goggles and ATS Boom Upgrade.
FY2026 to FY2027 change Funding decreased due to reduction of development efforts.
FY2026 plans — current year Continue ATS Night Vision Goggles and ATS Boom Upgrade.
FY2026 to FY2027 change Funding decreased due to anticipated completion of program of record development support efforts.
FY2026 plans — current year Continue program office support and planning to include but not limited to studies and analysis for future efficiency and energy efficiency initiatives, business case analyses, and future tanker planning.
Named performers on project 655271
Performers named in the R-3 exhibit under this project. Share is of the project's whole FY2027 R-3 total — the same denominator the program-element split uses, so the two read on one scale and will not sum to 100% when unnamed or government work is in the mix. Budget-justification contract funding, not obligations.