Pemco's Birmingham, Alabama, facility has received the first USAir Force Boeing KC-135 tanker under an interim agreement to augment maintenance capacity at Boeing's Aerospace Support Center in San Antonio, Texas, and the USAF's Oklahoma City Air Logistics Center. Boeing replaced Pemco as KC-135 depot-level overhaul provider in 1999, but the two plan to sign a six-year contract by September.
Source: Flight International
The troubled aerostructures manufacturer has become an important supplier of several key US defence programmes, including the air force’s new stealth bomber and the army’s next-generation tiltrotor.
With Boeing having delivered the first operational example of its latest F-15EX multi-role fighter, US Air Force pilots who previously flew the F-15C are beginning the process of transitioning to the new jet.
Airframer Boeing completed upgrades on two existing US Navy F/A-18 Super Hornet fighters, bringing the carrier-capable jets up to the latest Block III standard.
