Pegasus a significant investment

A ribbon-cutting last week opened the new KC-46A Pegasus’ maintenance campus, the single-largest construction project on Tinker Air Force Base since the 1940s.

The 156-acre campus on the southwest side of the base will provide maintenance, repair and modification operations with the first KC-46A aircraft expected to arrive for maintenance in June 2020. The campus will eventually include 14 hangars as well as a system integration laboratory and new taxiway and area for significant future expansion.

The campus allows crews to perform any level of work on the aircraft, from checking the oil and other simple maintenance to a complete rebuild. The hangars are scheduled between now and fiscal year 2027, when the final hangar is expected to be completed.

The Air Force has agreed to purchase 179 KC-46As to replace the KC-135 Stratotankers, in service since 1957. It’s the first of a three-stage effort to replace the aging tanker fleet. The KC-46A features more refueling capacity and enhanced evacuation, critical to the Air Force’s ability to quickly reach any corner of the globe.

The Oklahoma City Air Logistics Center is the Air Force’s largest depot and, with the addition of the KC-46A, it will remain the Air Force’s largest depot for the foreseeable future.

Read the full article at The Journal Record