KC-46 Tanker Evaluation Plan Gaining Acceptance From Top Testers

摘要

Two years after criticizing the Air Force's KC-46 tanker operational testing plan as completely unrealistic and "not executable," the Pentagon's top weapons tester has expressed his approval--with some reservations--of the service's testing proposal for the aircraft. According to the fiscal year 2013 annual report on Defense Department operational test and evaluation, signed by the Pentagon's OT&E director, Michael Gilmore, and obtained by InsideDefense.com, the Air Force's KC-46 operational test plan has a number of questionable characteristics that should be resolved. Nonetheless, more realistic expectations in the current plan compared to earlier versions, as well as design progress made last year, have improved the testing outlook for the Boeing-led program.