aging tankers to be replaced

"C Knowles" wrote in message
m...
You are falling apart... They call it an E-6 these days

The E-6 is based on the 707, not the -135.

Larger tankers? Oh, you mean the KC-10s. The AF doesn't have that many
as
they are REALLY, REALLY expensive. They are primarily used to transport
Fighters across the Oceans. Since most of the KC-10s are assigned to
the
AF
Reserves, those are not the ones near the War Zones. The KC-135, P-3
and
the KC-130 handle it closer to the action. The fact is, the P-3 and the
KC-130 operate almost right on the front lines while even the KC-135
operates further behind the lines. Due to financial reasons, it's
better
to
lose a P-3 Orian or a KC-130 over a KC-135. At least those two only
cost
a
few million where as the KC-135 cannot be replaced.

The KC-10 was a bargain at (about) $60 million apiece. Cheap compared to
the
767 which won't come close to the Ten's offload capability.
Fighter drags are the Ten's first mission but we do much more theater
refueling and even cargo hauling.
No KC-10s are assigned to the reserves. Both bases (McGuire & Travis) have
an associate reserve unit but I can assure you the active duty units "own"
the airplanes.

That is just one place. But I can only speak from over 10 years ago and
things change. But 10 years ago, the primary 10 was with the Reserves.


KC-130s generally operate in higher threat areas due to the nature of the
mission, not financial reasons. Howwever, plenty of KC-135s & KC-10s go in
harm's way when the mission calls for it.

No argument there. I remember a 135 dropping it's boom trying to get a
fighter home that was just pouring fuel with only one engine running. The
135 put the fighter within just a few 10s of feet from the runway before
forced disconnect. The fighter didn't make it but the attempt was heroic
considering just how much danger that place the Tanker in being so low to
the ground with the F-4 in tow.

I don't take a thing away from 135s and 10s. I retired from a KC-135R base
in 1990. But the fact still remains that if the KC-135s were used daily in
high threat areas, we would have losses that cannot be replaced. 60 mil is
an extremely high cost when a 6 mil tanker can be used in it's place. Just
get enough gas to get out of harms way until you can reach the real gas
station in the sky.


Curt
KC-10 flight engineer