Contracted Refueling
 

Is this for real?

Air Force eyes contractors for refueling - Air Force News, news from Iraq - Air Force Times

The navy has used civilian oilers (government and privately owned) to refuel ships at sea for years. Works great in non-combat zones, but combat-capable military-manned oiler/supply ships are also part of the fleet for obvious reasons.

These folks have been providing air-to-air refueling for Navy/Marine aircraft for years (but not in combat zones that I know of). Looks like they just added a KC-10 to their fleet.

I say it's for real. Not a whole lot different than contract aircraft (World, Omni, Polar, Atlas, Gemini, etc.) transporting troops and cargo into/out of the theater. They are all operating in/transiting through "combat airspace."

Omega Air Refueling

Omega has been using their PW powered DC-10 for a while for Navy birds.

Dang, I didnt realize that there were already contractors providing air-air refueling. What isn't contracted these days?

I have shared airspace with the Omega guys and also talked to several crews when I was a KC-135 guy. They are all ex 135 or KC-10 folks so they mix well with AF tankers. As they are drogue only, the Navy/Marines are their primary customers. I wonder if they will add a boom jet to their inventory with this latest news. That would be good news for some retiring boom operators still wanting to "put the pole in the hole."