Boeing KC-767
| KC-767 | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Japan Air Self-Defense Force KC-767J | |
| Role | Air-to-air tanker |
| Manufacturer | Boeing Integrated Defense Systems |
| First flight | 21 May 2005 |
| Status | In service |
| Primary users |
Italian Air Force Japan Air Self-Defense Force Colombian Air Force Brazilian Air Force |
| Produced | 2003–present |
| Number built | 11 |
| Unit cost |
~US$145 million
|
| Developed from | Boeing 767 |
| Variants | Boeing KC-46 Pegasus |
| Boeing KC-767 cutaway | |
 Hi-resdead link] cutaway of the Boeing KC-767A by Flight Global. |
The Boeing KC-767 is a military aerial refueling and strategic transport aircraft developed from the Boeing 767-200ER. The tanker received the designation KC-767A, after being selected by the U.S. Air Force (USAF) initially to replace older KC-135Es. In December 2003, the contract was frozen and later canceled due to corruption allegations.
The tanker was developed for the Italian and Japanese air forces, who ordered four tankers each. Financing of the development of the aircraft has largely been borne by Boeing, in the hope of receiving major orders from the USAF. Boeing's revised KC-767 proposal to the USAF was selected in February 2011 for the KC-X program under the designation KC-46.
The USAF ran a procurement program to replace about 100 of its oldest KC-135E Stratotankers, part of the "Commercial Derivative Air Refueling Aircraft" program. Most USAF KC-135s are of the updated KC-135R variant.
In early 2002 the USAF started negotiations with Boeing on the lease of a tankers based on the Boeing 767 after it considered the Airbus A330-based tanker, the KC-330 to be more costly and a higher technical risk. The USAF said that after an assessment of the two types shows that the EADS offering presents a higher-risk technical approach and less preferred financial arrangement it also said that the larger KC-330 does not bring with it a commensurate increase in available air-refuelling offload.
In addition, the KC-767 has manual flight controls with an unrestricted flight envelope. The Boeing tanker officially received the KC-767A designation from the U.S. DoD in 2002 and appearing in the 2004 edition of DoD Model Designation report.
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