The last operational KC-10, tail number 79-1948, departs Travis AFB, California, for storage at Davis-Monthan AFB, Arizona. (USAF)
The US Air Force (USAF) retired its last Boeing KC-10 Extender air-to-air tanker on 26 September, according to a statement by the service.
Following a brief ceremony, the final operational KC-10, tail number 79-1948, assigned to the 60th Air Mobility Wing, departed Travis Air Force Base (AFB), California, for Davis-Monthan AFB in Tucson, Arizona, where it joined the rest of the type in operational storage at the 309th Aerospace and Maintenance Regeneration Group (AMARG).
The KC-10 entered service in 1981 to become the largest tanker in the USAF fleet, capable of carrying more than 356,000 lb (161,479 kg) of fuel (of which it could transfer up to 200,000 lb) or carrying up to 170,000 lb (77,111 kg) for 4,400 miles (7,081 km), according to the service – nearly twice the performance of a Boeing KC-135. All KC-10s were equipped with hose-and-drogue refuelling equipment and could themselves be refuelled in the air. Deliveries ran through 1990.
The USAF operated a total of 60 KC-10s but began to retire them in 2020; the type flew its last combat mission in 2023. Although more capable and newer than the KC-135 fleet, which as yet has no official retirement date, operating and sustaining the KC-10 became more expensive due to the relatively small fleet size and diminishing manufacturing sources for spare parts.
Replacing the KC-10, operating units are receiving Boeing KC-46 Pegasus, which, though it cannot offload as much fuel, is newer and has a wider global support base.
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