AC&W

Yeah, RVS sucks. They could have, should have fielded their improvement by now, but that is our wonderful Prime and Acquisition efficiency on display. Existing RVS is good enough for current operations. The -46 is a mess, so many lost opportunities on what could have been, but over 100 have been produced and production is still active. The Airbus tanker is fielding an autonomous boom AAR capability for Singapore, the KC-390 is awesome. There was a time when, "Fly Boeing Tankers" was a cool slogan, unfortunately the -46 has tarnished that a bit.

In the interest of facts, not championing the KC-46. Deliveries were briefly halted in early 2025, but they have resumed and delivered at least 10 since the stopage.

Not that is matters, but I like the idea of having a boom equipped 390, it's a cool aircraft. Realistically, I just don't see it happening. I believe it's been mentioned that the 390 could be modified to carry more fuel. Correct me if I'm wrong but the currently fieldeid 390 can carry a maximum of 79,090 lbs of fuel (utilizing roll-on tanks in the cargo compartment). 79K is a capability, but still fairly short of our current big wing tankers. What fuel load was it running in war games? If it was more than 80K than not sure the results were realistic.

Boeing and Airbus both probably don't want Embraer to manufacture a boom. Teaming with Northrop is an interesting development. I'm still not convinced the USAF would entertain the 390, jucie just not worth the squeeze (complex with limited offload). If money and manpower were not a factor the 390 would be a neat addition. A boom 390 could be relevant to countries with smaller geography and inventories, and who could maximize the efficiency of reconfiguring the aircraft between boom and cargo; Portugal, Poland, Argentina, Chile, Greece, Romania are few that come to mind.

And then there was one. "Hal stop turning into the sun!"

Just curious, is your country of birth, citizenship, and military service all the same country? Which country?

Considering our "nationalized" federal government is closed for business, I am not too sure an easy fix will be that easy or effective.

Concur. The vision system on their 707 tanker is well ahead of it's time.

Israeli boom operators are gonna love the KC-46 remote vision system compared to what they currently have, haha.

I think a combination of poor contract requirements, and Boeing intentionally delivering a product in need of an immediate upgrades is the recipe. Its a feature, not a bug. The upgrade Boeing has for the KC-46 vision system is phenomenal, they just need the cash stream to flow in.

Without major acquisition reform, even with its challenges, the KC-46 is the better platform for boom AAR. The KC-390 could potentially compete with the -130 for drogue AAR capes, but I'm not expert enough to compare and contrast it's cargo and AAR capes with the Herk.

I suspect you are aware the -46 will not be carrying 18 pallets ever, 10 is generous. ISUs are compatible, but commercial parts support is a pipe dream without acquisition reform. Unless we have a robust and diverse tanker fleet, 473L pallet compatibility with tankers is not a relevant capability for us (unpopular opinion). Potentially relevant for our allies.

Init qual check for the CO, and S1 for the Boom.

"At a distance of approximately 2,300 kilometers, the Air Force struck an Iranian refueling aircraft a short time ago at Mashhad airport in eastern Iran. The Air Force is working to achieve air superiority throughout Iran. This is the farthest strike since the operation began."

*looked like Appears the queen is dead.