Posted on 10/18/2010 9:40:02 PM PDT by ErnstStavroBlofeld
The last new KC-135 Stratotanker was delivered to the U.S. Air Force in 1964. After nearly a decade of war, the fleet’s age is showing, most profoundly to the men and women on the ground who keep the 415 tankers flying.
Two wars, political bickering, shady dealings and Air Force missteps have delayed the development of a new airborne refueling tanker for much of the past decade. In the meantime, airmen are left to keep this Eisenhower-era granddaddy of the fleet mission-ready, an increasingly difficult and expensive task.
“How many cars do you see driving from 1956?” asked Staff Sgt. Dan Kirstler, of the 100th Air Refueling Wing’s maintenance squadron at RAF Mildenhall.
Outside analysts and Air Force officials agree that aerial refueling is key to American power projection across the globe. It allows fighter jets, unmanned aerial vehicles and a variety of other aircraft to fly farther and longer without having to land for fuel, a particularly helpful advantage in far-flung locales such as Afghanistan.
(Excerpt) Read more at stripes.com ...
Can’t wait for Obamacare!
Who needs power projection when the idiots who watch TV assisted in getting a muslim in the white hut?
Our poor troops are penny arcade bears in the a shooting gallery because the islamists are all through the pentagon, dia, cia, and the rest of the corrupt govt.
Keep watching TV sheep - the elites and islam thank you. You empower them each time you switch on the idiot box.
The USAF has a few FC-10s. A few.
Hey that’s not fair, there are people who are too lazy to work who need our tax dollars!
And TV clickers !
Did they hang AMRAAMs off of the wings?
When measuring the age of an aircraft, you don't go by the date stamp on the bottom, you go by the number of flying hours.
The remaining KC-135s in our fleet are relatively low hour aircraft, and even after the KC-X buy is complete in 2020, we'll still have over 200 KC-135s in inventory.
Corrosion is the biggest worry with the KC-135, not its age.
59 KC-10s
Thanks - late nite posts are sloppy...
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