KC-46A tanker refuels Spanish E/F-18s for first international aircraft refuelling

A USAF KC-46A Pegasus refuelled a Spanish Air Force E/F-18 Hornet. (Staff Sergeant Nathan Eckert)

A US Air Force (USAF) Boeing KC-46A Pegasus tanker refuelled Spanish E/F-18 Hornets (called C-15s in Spain) on 18 April at Morón Air Base, Spain, as part of its first employment concept exercise (ECE), the USAF said on 27 April.

“They pushed hard to run the aircraft through its paces during the ECE, including supporting a bomber task force, refuelling US fighters over Eastern Europe, and completing the first-ever refuelling of an international aircraft,” said General Mike Minihan, head of Air Mobility Command.

The air force said the tanker is cleared to support “nearly 85% of join force receivers requesting air refuelling from [the] US Transportation Command”, and under the interim capability release (ICR) plan, the aircraft can perform services that the KC-135 Stratotanker and KC-10 Extender aircraft would have filled.

Despite lingering deficiencies with the tanker, the service said the KC-46A has “offloaded more than 78 million pounds of fuel and completed more than 34,900 boom and 2,200 drogue contacts since January 2019”.