Ramon Lopez/WASHINGTON DC
The US AIR FORCE HAS awarded Boeing Defense & Space Group a contract which could lead to as many as 96 of its Boeing KC-135 tankers being fitted with wing-mounted "hose-and-drogue" refuelling pods.
The company has been awarded a $24 million engineering and manufacturing development contract which includes procurement of two hose-and-drogue refuelling pods and pylons from UK company Flight Refuelling.
The contract also covers several production options. The USAF plans to spend about $178 million adding hose-and-drogue refuelling pods to 33 KC-135Rs. Further extensions to the contract could involve up to 96 tankers ultimately being modified.
The project results from the experience of the Gulf War. Fitting the aircraft with hose-and-drogue pods would allow the USAF to provide aerial-refuelling support to US Navy aircraft and to allied probe-equipped air forces without degrading existing boom-refuelling capabilities.
The MultiPoint Refuelling System (MPRS) contract calls for Boeing's Product Support division in Wichita, Kansas, to engineer, manufacture, develop and install provisions for pods and associated instrumentation on one operational USAF KC-135R.
Boeing and the USAF will conduct ground and flight tests on the modified tanker.
In September 1992, Chrysler Technologies Airborne Systems (CTAS) and Israel Aircraft Industries' (IAI) Bedek division teamed to compete for MPRS contracts. The CTAS/IAI partnership and other firms evaluated the USAF's request for proposals, but elected not to bid against Boeing.
Source: Flight International
