Originally Posted by
badflaps
Aren't there a few countries flying the tanker successfully?
Italy and Japan are both flying a B-767 tanker, but it is NOT a KC-46. It is essentially a 767 with a KC-135-style boomer’s station, boom, and I believe two wingtip-mounted hose and drogue pods.
It looks similar, but the KC-46 is a hodge-podge of 767-variant parts. I believe 767-200 fuselage, -300 horizontal stabilizer, either a -300 or -400 wing, and I forget which engines. It was referred to as “Frankentanker” during development for that reason.
The Japanese and Italian tankers have been in service for about 15 years. No major issues that I am aware of.
The KC-46 (besides the scandal and bribery charges the first time around) has had buffeting problems, and quality control (trash and tools found in closed spaces). But the biggest problem is the ongoing issue with the cameras for the remote-boomer position, which was an unfortunate design-decision.
The boomer is now in the cockpit. Multiple cameras are supposed to give him an unobstructed and continuous view of the receivers. In theory, this adds to crew coordination, as well as eliminating the boomer pod. The pod adds weight and complexity to the fuselage structure, and is COLD In a 135 due to “tail end of the pipe” heat ducting, and exposure in the turbulent flow aft of the fuselage.
But like any video camera...these cameras can be washed out by bright light sources. A human suddenly illuminated squints or looks away...and recovery can be quick. In contrast, a videocamera may be blinded for several seconds.