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Is the KC-10 going to be cut?


JackaL

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If Guam is the only base, true. If the fighters are more than 3 hours away the KC-135 becomes a better option. The KC-135 has a longer flight endurance at MTOGW. There is a reason the KC-10 is kept closer to the air refueling tracks and has higher density of offloads.

Uhhh, no. Where did you hear that one? We only burn about 7K/hour more than you, on average, and we can carry 140K more. The advantage of the -135 is boom or drouge-cycle time; it's faster to refuel a 4-ship using 2x -135s vs 1x -10. Do you work at the CAOC, by any chance?

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169FE,

I'm disgruntled because I can't wear a 'SUCK FACTOR' morale patch, and my finances suck D2 the pension COLA cut... I'll sell you the KC-10 eTOLD program for 5 bucks. If that isn't sweet enough I'll throw in the W&B program for some french fries.

I say sell the Chinese everything we have on the WARPs: that'll set them back at least 30 years.

I've heard this about the WARPs many times, trust me! I'm pretty sure the Navy and allied forces almost always ask for the center line; if not 100% of the time. Cobham is Cobham I realize (the manufacturer of both the WARPs and the center line), but the center line is the US manufactured equipment and the WARP is the UK manufactured stuff. Since I'm US-based, the only thing I deal with is the center line. Not to mention, I don't think the hose and drogue systems gets used a whole lot stateside as it is in general, so even the center line here is pretty low-key.

As far as the suck factor patch, maaaaaaan... I'm also in the Air Guard out of Illinois and we get to wear whatever the hell we want on our uniforms. Well, almost! Not really, but I wish. The pension and COLA freeze (or maybe they actually cut it?) is ridiculous, agreed.

eTold for $5.00, buy us a pack of Keystone with it, and split the fries and it's a deal.

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If Guam is the only base, true. If the fighters are more than 3 hours away the KC-135 becomes a better option. The KC-135 has a longer flight endurance at MTOGW. There is a reason the KC-10 is kept closer to the air refueling tracks and has higher density of offloads.

That must be the answer why -135 guys do tons of coronets...because the -10 was totally not designed to be the Advanced Tanker/Cargo Aircraft and it did not have a design requirement to carry people and 50K of shit from point A to b while refueling 6 fighters across the ocean.

Man, that -135 is one hell of a long range refueler.

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That must be the answer why -135 guys do tons of coronets...because the -10 was totally not designed to be the Advanced Tanker/Cargo Aircraft and it did not have a design requirement to carry people and 50K of shit from point A to b while refueling 6 fighters across the ocean.

Man, that -135 is one hell of a long range refueler.

You guys sure are beating down the door of AE's and 8010. You know, the missions that are more important than Coronets.

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You guys sure are beating down the door of AE's and 8010.

Pretty sure the -135 was designed with the 8010-style mission at the forefront of Boeing's minds. As the Advanced Tanker/Cargo Aircraft, the -10 was not.

We've got approved configurations for the AE mission. TACC not using us for it, ain't our fault.

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Hey, what about that set of missions flown to FHAW by all those -135s to move all the POTUS stuff for the Mandela funeral.

Oh, those were all -10s with nary a -135 in sight? Interesting.

Yeah, we were busy backfilling the -10 OEF commitment so you guys could stock up on Kashi and soy milk in the tropics.

Standard.

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Hey, what about that set of missions flown to FHAW by all those -135s to move all the POTUS stuff for the Mandela funeral.

Oh, those were all -10s with nary a -135 in sight? Interesting.

As a common courtesy, just wanted to let you know that you come off as massively insecure when you post in this thread.

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Hey, what about that set of missions flown to FHAW by all those -135s to move all the POTUS stuff for the Mandela funeral.

Oh, those were all -10s with nary a -135 in sight? Interesting.

Yeah, they were too busy deployed, doing START, in the middle of another NORI, or sitting ONE alert.

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  • 4 months later...

Comments concerning the KC-10 in the current FY15 NDAA House Appropriations Committee Report.

"The Air Force has indicated that should spending limits contained in current law remain in force in fiscal year 2016, it will propose to retire the entire fleet of 59 KC-10 tanker aircraft by fiscal year 2020, saving an estimated $2,300,000,000 over the future years defense program. The Committee believes that eliminating the KC-10 fleet poses a serious risk to the Air Force's ability to carry out one of its stated core missions, that of providing global reach for the armed forces. The KC-10, with its ability to deliver 150,000 pounds of fuel at a range of 4,400 nautical miles using both the boom and drogue methods, is a critical element of providing the air bridge to combatant commanders across the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans.
"The Committee urges the Secretary of the Air Force to be more forthcoming about the operational impact of retiring the KC-10 fleet, a proposal which appears to be driven primarily by the Air Force's stated preference for ''vertical cuts" that eliminate entire fleets and their associated infrastructure to achieve the requisite level of savings under current law and Department of Defense policy. Current acquisition plans for the KC-46 will not provide an adequate replacement for the KC-10, since the Air Force already plans to replace the older fleet of KC-135s with KC-46s on a one-for-one basis. The Committee notes that the House-passed National Defense Authorization Act for fiscal year 2015 prohibits the Air Force from taking any action toward divestment of the KC–10 fleet and requires the Commander of the United States Transportation Command to submit an operational risk assessment and mitigation strategy to the congressional defense committees along with any proposal to divest the KC–10 fleet in the fiscal year 2016 budget."
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I remember hearing the joke in 2008 that the KC46 would replace the KC-10, and the 135s would refuel the 10 to the boneyard. A few corrupt people in the acquisitions process are still screwing over the force.

I just hope we replace both airframes before we lose confidence in their safety. It appears though "vertical cuts" are the Air Force's sequestration gambit. It is sound enough to be dangerous; we lose the cost, people, and capability all at once. Can't do more with less when the jets are in the boneyard.

Posted from the NEW Baseops.net App!

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  • 7 months later...

The CNS/ATM mod is fully funded for FY15, with several jets completed. One modded jet left OKC today (as scheduled), the next one in line for mod arrived at OKC on Monday.

The partial mobilization of the AFRC KC-10 squadrons continues on. When questioned about it, the quote from my SQ/CC this weekend was "There's no end in sight.". I'm expecting my mob notification/orders for my next desert rotation in the next couple weeks.

We're still hiring; we just had a pilot hiring board this weekend.

I think we'll be around for at least a few more years...

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The partial mobilization of the AFRC KC-10 squadrons continues on. When questioned about it, the quote from my SQ/CC this weekend was "There's no end in sight.". I'm expecting my mob notification/orders for my next desert rotation in the next couple weeks.

I remember the old guys telling me that the desert rotations would never stop after OEF-A. They were right; it's been going on for literally 25 years.
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Any news or rumint on KC-10 divestment?

Look my recent post in the sequestration thread. They're certainly thinking about it as a buffer for other aircraft/programs.
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