US government auditors have warned that challenges remain to timely testing and delivery of the US Air Force's (USAF's) Boeing KC-46A Pegasus aerial refuelling tanker, according to a report released on 8 April. "Boeing has a challenging road ahead to complete testing and deliver aircraft," said the Government Accountability Office's (GAO's) annual review of the programme. "Test officials believe Boeing's test schedule is optimistic, and it may not have all aircraft available when needed to complete planned testing." Programme officials estimate that there are four months of schedule risk to delivering 18 aircraft by August 2017 as planned "due to testing and parts qualification issues," according to the GAO. The agency also noted that Boeing has taken pretax charges on the programme totalling USD1.2 billion because development costs are fixed by the contract.
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