Commercial Tanker Refuels B-52, MC-130J

A B-52 has been refuelled in mid-air by a commercial tanker for the first time, the U.S Air Force has announced.

The contact took place over the Pacific Ocean on March 10. The B-52, assigned to the 49th Test and Evaluation Sqn based at Barksdale AFB, Louisiana, took fuel from a KDC-10B operated by Omega Air Refueling Services. During the same mission, the tanker also refuelled a 1st Operations Sqn MC-130J. Four "successful, safe" contacts took place during the mission, a Pacific Air Force Public Affairs release says, which saw the Omega tanker transit from Osan Air Base, Republic of Korea, to Andersen AFB, Guam.

"To compete and win, the Joint Force needs resilient and diverse ability to get the warfighters where they need to be when they need to be there," commander of the 49th T&E Sqn, Lt. Col. Matthew Spinelli, said, according to the release. "Long range bombers now have additional means to get into and out of theater rapidly and ultimately offers the joint force more presence, firepower, and mass of force a higher consistency. Commercial air is a must for U.S. Indo-Pacific Command operations given the nature of the theater."

Omega acquired the first of two former Royal Netherlands Air Force KDC-10Bs in 2019, with the second arriving in 2021. The aircraft are equipped with a refuelling boom. The company has been providing air-to-air refueling services to the U.S. Navy since 2001 but, until the arrival of its first KDC-10B, was only able to provide probe-and-drogue refuelling. Certification to provide boom refuelling to U.S. Navy aircraft was issued in February, following a flight when fuel was transferred to an Air National Guard F-22 during a training mission flown from Hawaii.

The February contact marked the first time a boom-capable U.S. fighter had been refuelled by a commercial tanker, and appears to be the first time an Omega tanker refueled an Air Force platform. The first USAF aircraft to receive fuel from a commercial tanker was an RC-135 Rivet Joint, which was refueled by a KC-135ER owned by Metrea Strategic Mobility, during an exercise in June 2023. [See https://aviationweek.com/defense-space/multi-mission-aircraft/us-air-fo… ]

Further extensions to the USAF's air-to-air refueling capability were announced April 3 when the 22nd Air Refueling Wing confirmed it had received the first sets of Wing Air Refueling Pods (WARP) for the KC-46A fleet. This will add a probe-and-drogue capability to the boom-equipped tankers. The first aircraft to be fitted with the WARPs will carry out initial operational test and evaluation (IOT&E) of the system. The certification of the system - an optional add-on envisioned as part of the original KC-46 design - has been ongoing since 2019. Perhaps ironically, IOT&E will see the USAF tanker refueling probe-equipped U.S Navy and Marine Corps aircraft.