Pechs,
About a month ago I raised the same issue in here and it was so rudely
(maybe not accurately) pointed out to me that the 'Rhino's are already
performing that role and had gone through DT/OT and everything using
that mission. I hadn't seen it yet, and talking to my shipmates here
in the Vampires, they hadn't used this profile yet. The S-3 is a
goner, (2005) no plans for long term tanker use, sadly. To me, this
will make our reliance on AF tankers more prevalent. We lose some of
our sef-sufficiency for sure, not sure what the trade-offs of having
Rhinos play tanker. I'm sure there still has to be something in the
air for every recovery, for blue water ops and that dreaded sip of
petrol before rigging the barricade.

But On 31 Dec 2003 14:49:19 GMT, (Pechs1) wrote:

many- EF-18G built and flying? According to who? BRBR

But what about tankers? What do current airwings, populated by a bunch of
'Bugs' use? Refueling packages on the wings of other Bugs??

Is the S-3 gone as a tanker?

Is there any plan to convert some of these to permanent KS-3s(A good idea,
IMO)?
P. C. Chisholm
CDR, USN(ret.)
Old Phart Phormer Phantom, Turkey, Viper, Scooter and Combat Buckeye Phlyer