Air Force KC-46A Aerial Refueling Tanker Purpose, Plans and Progress

On 24 February 2011, the Department of Defense (DOD) announced the Boeing Company as the winner of a competition to build 179 new KC-46A aerial refuelling tankers for the Air Force, a contract valued at roughly $35 billion. Prior to the announcement, the program had been known as KC-X. This book examines the KC-46A acquisition program which is a subject of intense interest because of the dollar value of the contract, the number of jobs it would create, the importance of tanker aircraft to U.S. military operations, and because DOD's previous attempts to acquire a new tanker since 2001 had ultimately failed.