USAF KC-46A to be called Pegasus

The Boeing KC-46A will be known as the 'Pegasus' in USAF service. (Boeing) — The Boeing KC-46A will be known as the ‘Pegasus’ in USAF service. (Boeing)

The USAF will name its new Boeing KC-46A tanker ‘Pegasus’, the service’s chief of staff announced at the USAF Air Warfare Symposium in Orlando on February 20.

Currently under development and due to make its first flight later this year, the KC-46A is a tanker version of Boeing’s 767-2F which was selected ahead of the Airbus A330 for the USAF’s KC-X requirement.

“It’s a proud name,” General Mark Welsh said in his keynote address to the conference. “I had a chance to see the first airplane on the assembly line a few weeks back. It will be flying in June. It’s a real thing now.”

The USAF is expected to have 18 KC-46s in service by 2017, and all 179 on order to have been delivered by 2027.