The US Air Force will decide this month if it will outsource part of its aerial refueling missions.

With more than 500 tanker aircraft in line, the US Air Force alone has more than 70% of the global air fleet specializing in this area. But a large part of its fleet, notably the almost 400 KC-135s still in service, are reaching their age limit, and must be replaced by the new KC-46 Pegasus, an aircraft costing more than $150 million per unit, $250 million taking into account R&D and additional costs linked to development difficulties. In order to cushion the budgetary shock of such an acquisition, but also to have greater flexibility for the withdrawal of the KC-135 in the face of delays in the KC-46 program, the General Staff of the US Air Force has imagined being able to call on private providers for certain resupply missions, as it already does for training missions and in particular for the “Agressor” forces.

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