When it comes to the air component of the U.S. military, a lack of midair refuelers could be utterly devastating.
One of the things that makes the United States military truly unique and dominant is its ability to rapidly and reliably project power anywhere in the world. Midair refueling allows for the United States to project power. For some time, the military has struggled with replacing their aging KC-135 Stratotankers with all new Boeing KC-46 Pegasus midair refuelers.
Now, there’s a new complication.
Two of the Air Force’s four newest KC-46 planes have already developed cracks in their airframes, according to exclusive reporting from The War Zone. What that means is that the Air Force’s newest planes that keep American warplanes flying over long distances already have structural problems.
Boeing’s Recent Failures
And it’s not as if Boeing has not been struggling with one crisis after the other. Their civilian airliners having been falling apart midflight. Boeing’s much ballyhooed Starliner space capsule was deemed too unsafe to bring a crew of astronauts home to Earth, leaving them stranded for almost a year aboard the International Space Station. Now, a critical U.S. military aircraft, the KC-46, is defective.
This is as much of a crisis in America’s defense contracting community—within which Boeing is an icon—as it is a disaster for military readiness.
The Air Force currently has 89 KC-46 Pegasus midair refueling birds. They intend to have over 179 purchased over 13 tranches by the end of 2027, the same year that the Pentagon assumes the People’s Republic of China will attempt to invade Taiwan. Oh, and the Japanese Air Self-Defense Forces have thus far received four KC-46s for their fleet.
Thus, Boeing’s midair refueling crisis may be going transnational.
Meanwhile, the Air Force’s plans to have their KC-46 fleet completed by 2027 are now in grave jeopardy, as deliveries from Boeing have been halted so that the flailing aerospace firm can resolve the issues. There are an insufficient number of KC-46 Pegasus midair refuellers, and the existing fleet of KC-135 Stratotankers are being held together by a spit-and-polish.
If, as the Pentagon fears, the problems with the new KC-46 Pegasus fleet are systemic, the Air Force might need to abandon their contract with Boeing—restarting what has been an arduous process and forcing the Air Force to rely more heavily on the aging KC-135. That’s a worst-case scenario. Then again, the issues with the KC-46 are only the most recent woes that have plagued what should have been a relatively straightforward aircraft development program.
Big Problems with the KC-46 Pegasus
Not only is the KC-46 massively behind schedule, but there are ongoing efforts to repair the critical boom and aerial refueling pods. A 2024 Government Accountability Office (GAO) report took the KC-46 program to task, complaining that the inoperable aerial refueling pods and booms had caused what was then a 76-month delay. That’s six years.
Further complications for the KC-46 involved the all-important Remote Vision System (RVS). The RVS is a critical component of the aforementioned boom system that allows for operators to link the boom to other planes in need of midair refueling. Without the RVS, the boom doesn’t work, and thirsty warplanes go unquenched.
Add in the new problems with the KC-46 and you’ve got a real conundrum facing the United States Air Force.
After all, the loss of the KC-46, even for a limited time, puts the Air Force’s already diminishing readiness at a grave risk. They are forced to do more with less—and to rely on the ancient KC-135 Stratofortress to do more at a time when the Air Force desperately needs to retire these old birds.
The Strategic Implications of Losing Aerial Refueling
In recent days, senior Chinese military leaders have spoken openly about attacking and annexing neighboring Taiwan. Midair refueling will be a key strategic capability to help keep U.S. and allied forces in any fight with China. But those capabilities are now off the table, at least in any meaningful way, until a resolution to the problems of the KC-46 can be created.
The Trump administration’s secretary of defense, Pete Hegseth, has indicated that readiness is his lodestar when it comes to running U.S. defense policy. When it comes to the air component of the U.S. military, a lack of midair refuelers could be utterly devastating. Indeed, it might lead to our defeat. Come to think of it, lack of proper midair refuellers might mean the U.S. couldn’t even enter the fray of any Chinese provocation in the Indo-Pacific to begin with!
America desperately needs a better defense industrial base. The country needs an affordable defense budget that prioritizes readiness and warfighting. What’s more, the United States cannot continue relying upon the same old defense contractors that they’ve been committed to for decades.
Failure to fundamentally reorganize the defense industrial base will lead to a defeat of the U.S. military when the next great power war erupts. More importantly, a refusal to break the interlocking alliance of big defense contractors like Boeing from the Pentagon bureaucracy, allowing for outside competition from more nimble defense startups and consortiums—such as the one that Elon Musk is reportedly forming between SpaceX properties, Palantir, and Anduril—could lead to the ruin of the U.S. military.
About the Author: Brandon J. Weichert
Brandon J. Weichert, a Senior National Security Editor at The National Interest as well as a Senior Fellow at the Center for the National Interest, and a contributor at Popular Mechanics, consults regularly with various government institutions and private organizations on geopolitical issues. Weichert’s writings have appeared in multiple publications, including the Washington Times, National Review, The American Spectator, MSN, the Asia Times, and countless others. His books include Winning Space: How America Remains a Superpower, Biohacked: China’s Race to Control Life, and The Shadow War: Iran’s Quest for Supremacy. His newest book, A Disaster of Our Own Making: How the West Lost Ukraine is available for purchase wherever books are sold. He can be followed via Twitter @WeTheBrandon.
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