{"id":1368,"date":"2025-11-30T08:03:41","date_gmt":"2025-11-30T06:03:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/thedefencenews.com\/?p=1368"},"modified":"2025-06-08T12:50:21","modified_gmt":"2025-06-08T10:50:21","slug":"us-air-force-launches-new-stealthy-tanker-program-with-delivery-projected-for-2040","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thedefencenews.com\/?p=1368","title":{"rendered":"US Air Force Launches New Stealthy Tanker Program, with Delivery Projected for 2040"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Air Force launched its search for the Next-Generation Air-Refueling System (NGAS), a stealthy tanker project intended to deliver its first aircraft around 2040, with a request for information to industry. The new tanker is to be capable of surviving in contested airspace, but the service is open to all ideas about its size and performance.<\/p>\n

Contractors are invited to submit ideas for the NGAS that will be considered in an\u00a0Analysis of Alternatives, according to the\u00a0announcement on SAM.gov.<\/p>\n

The RFI marks the formal start of what has previously been called \u201cKC-Z.\u201d The KC-X program became the KC-46 now being acquired; the KC-Y has become the so-called \u201cbridge tanker\u201d still in definition, and KC-Z the Air Force now refers to as NGAS, or \u201cincrement three\u201d of its three-phase tanker recapitalization effort.<\/p>\n

The Defense Innovation Unit and the Air Force are already looking at concepts for a\u00a0future blended-wing body tanker<\/a>, but the Jan. 31 solicitation specifically leaves open the configuration.<\/p>\n

The Air Force \u201cis interested in innovative solutions in all size and performance classes that might address the stressing mission requirements\u201d of delivering fuel in contested airspace, the announcement said. The speed of the aircraft concepts submitted \u201cshould be compatible with modern receivers.\u201d<\/p>\n

The concepts put forward can have novel technologies or operational concepts, but the Air Force said all the risk needs to be ironed out to a Technology Readiness Level of 6\u2014meaning a representative model or prototype system has been tested in a relevant environment\u2014before 2032.<\/p>\n

Air Force Secretary Frank Kendall,\u00a0speaking on a Council on Foreign Relations webinar, said the threat posed by China is driving the Air Force away from traditional tankers, wherein a commercial aircraft is adapted into a mobility aircraft.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe threat\u2019s taking that freedom away from us,\u201d he said, adding that with new cargo and tanker aircraft designs, USAF has to put \u201ca high premium on survivability.\u201d Chinese and other adversary aircraft and missiles can track tankers and shoot them from long range, compelling the Air Force to move toward survivable concepts, he said. The new tanker will have to \u201cmove beyond\u201d traditional concepts and \u201csurvive in an environment the current fleet hasn\u2019t had to work [in].\u201d<\/p>\n

In June 2022, the Air Force\u00a0sent out a request<\/a>\u00a0for the \u201cAdvanced Aerial Refueling Family of Systems,\u201d a dual-track program seeking a KC-46 follow-on with additional capabilities like a communications node and advanced navigation systems, while separately pursuing an advanced tanker with the survivability to operate near enemy airspace. The NGAS is now defined as that second track.<\/p>\n

Kendall has indicated he thinks an improved KC-46 will likely be the solution to the \u201cbridge tanker\u201d requirements, consistently downplaying the idea of a competition.<\/p>\n

The request for info for the NGAS instructs industry to provide detailed performance characteristics of potential aircraft, including their size and weight, \u201ctakeoff and landing, climb, cruise, and representative mission performance.\u201d The Air Force also wants to know if the aircraft proposed can use \u201cregional or improvised airfields or other, non-traditional basing.\u201d<\/p>\n

The new tankers will have to be able to receive fuel in mid-air as well as provide it to other aircraft. The respondents should also identify the level of maturity of the designs, what the greatest risk areas are, and how contractors would mitigate them in a development program. Officials want \u201ctimelines to fielding\u201d the proposed solutions.<\/p>\n

Respondents should explain how their solutions might \u201cchange the way aerial refueling operations would be executed,\u201d what operational or support changes would be needed to introduce these new concepts, and how \u201cyour proposed solution [will] increase, improve, or expand the current and planned capabilities of the tanker fleet (including KC-135, KC-46, and Bridge Tanker).\u201d<\/p>\n

The concepts also have to address how they will support unmanned aerial systems and \u201caddress anticipated threats \u2026 in the 2040 timeframe.\u201d Industry respondents also need to submit their ideas on how they will counter cyber threats to their aircraft concepts, and broadly, identify the \u201chigh-level cost implications\u201d for any new technologies put forth. Potential offerors also have to state what kinds of engines they would put on their aircraft and what kind of fuel savings they can achieve versus present-day tankers.<\/p>\n

The program will make use of digital modeling and simulation techniques and any proposals must use a modular, open-systems architecture.<\/p>\n

The Air Force also wants to know if the proposers can offer \u201cinnovative teaming arrangements of traditional military prime contractors with non-military contractors to achieve a mix of experience in advanced aero-configuration design, lean programs, and rapid airframe development and manufacturing.\u201d The service is looking to expand it supplier base both to increase competition and avoid \u201cvendor lock,\u201d wherein a particular contractor enjoys a virtual monopoly on upgrades and software.<\/p>\n

Industry has already offered up a variety of approaches to future tankers, ranging from blended wing body concepts to small, highly stealthy tankers that could penetrate heavily defended airspace along with strike aircraft.<\/p>\n

Last month at the annual American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics convention and exposition, Boeing unveiled a stealthy-looking hybrid blended wing body concept for mobility applications having a butterfly empennage and embedded engines. Lockheed Martin has also shown stealthy BWB-type concepts for future airlifters and tankers.<\/p>\n

Kendall said there\u2019s no commercial blended-wing body concept the Air Force can take advantage of \u201cyet,\u201d but the service is looking at such concepts with the DIU because commercial variants could also significantly reduce the airline and freight industry\u2019s consumption of fuel.<\/p>\n

Kendall has also designated airlift as one of the three \u201ccross-cutting\u201d enabler mission areas that touch all of the Air Force\u2019s activities\u2014the other two being electronic warfare and munitions\u2014and underlie all of his seven \u201coperational imperatives.\u201d Each enabler has been assigned an operational and acquisition co-leader to facilitate the development of capability roadmaps.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Air Force launched its search for the Next-Generation Air-Refueling System (NGAS), a stealthy tanker project intended to deliver its first aircraft around 2040, with a request for information to […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1410,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[33],"tags":[256,92],"class_list":["post-1368","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-air","tag-stealthy-tanker-program","tag-us-air-force"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/thedefencenews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/New-Stealthy-Tanker-Program.png","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thedefencenews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1368","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thedefencenews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thedefencenews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thedefencenews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thedefencenews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1368"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/thedefencenews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1368\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1411,"href":"https:\/\/thedefencenews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1368\/revisions\/1411"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thedefencenews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/1410"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thedefencenews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1368"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thedefencenews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1368"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thedefencenews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1368"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}