Jane Edwards
Boeing handed over two KC-46A Pegasus tanker planes to the U.S. Air Force during a ceremony held Thursday at the company’s Everett, Wash.-based assembly facility, GeekWire reported Thursday.
Leanne Caret, president and CEO of Boeing’s defense, space and security business, made a surprise announcement Thursday before employees and service personnel that the company would deliver not just one, but two KC-46As to the military branch.
Caret, a 2019 Wash100 winner, noted that Air Force and company officials signed the documents to facilitate the acceptance of the second tanker.
Gen. Maryanne Miller, commander of Air Mobility Command at Scott Air Force Base in Illinois, accepted the keys to the planes, which will now head to McConnell Air Force Base in Kansas.
The report noted that Boeing, which is on contract to build 52 tankers, has moved eight other KC-46s to the customer acceptance testing phase.
The Air Force plans to buy up to 179 KC-46 refueling planes to replace its KC-135 Stratotanker aircraft.
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