U.S. Air Force photo by Staff Sgt. Jerry Morrison
WASHINGTON (AP) -- Boeing Co.'s McDonnell Douglas Corp. received a $102.3 million contract boost from the Air Force for logistics support for the KC-10 and KDC-10 aerial refueling tankers, the Pentagon said late Thursday. Shares of the Chicago-based company added 5 cents to $48.51 in after-hours trading, after shares added 6 cents to close at $48.46.
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The KC-10 Extender is an air-to-air tanker aircraft in service with the United States Air Force derived from the civilian DC-10-30 airliner. The KC-10 was the second consecutive McDonnell Douglas transport aircraft to be selected by the US Air Force following the C-9 Nightingale.
The U.S Air Force selected McDonnell Douglas's DC-10 over Boeing's 747 in December 1977.
20 KC-10s were later modified to add wing-mounted pods for added refueling locations. In addition to the USAF refueling boom, the KC-10's hose and drogue system allows refueling of U.S. Navy, Marine Corps, and most NATO allied aircraft. This gives the KC-10 the ability to refuel USAF, USN, USMC and other NATO aircraft, all in the same mission.
During boom refueling operations, fuel is transferred to the receiver aircraft at a maximum rate of 1,100 gallons (4,180 liters) per minute; the hose and drogue refueling maximum rate is 470 gallons (1,786 liters) per minute. The KC-10 can be air-refueled by a KC-135 or another KC-10 to increase its delivery range.
KC-10 Air-to-air tanker Manufacturer McDonnell Douglas Introduced 1981 Status Active service Primary users are United States Air Force and Royal Netherlands Air Force (KDC-10) which produced in 1979 to 1987. built 60 KC-10 were built and 4 KDC-10 were built the Unit cost KC-10 was US$88.4 million (in 1998). Developed from McDonnell Douglas DC-10-30.
In 1984, Royal Netherlands Air Force required and established for new transport aircraft with KDC-10 in 1991. Costs for the conversion were initially estimated at $89.5 million (FY 1994). The Royal Netherlands Air Force agreed to be kept at $96 million in 1995.
Aerial refueling, also called air refueling, in-flight refueling (IFR), air-to-air refueling (AAR) or tanking, is the process of transferring fuel from one aircraft (the tanker) to another (the receiver) during flight. Applied to helicopters, it is known as HAR for Helicopter Aerial Refueling.
Usually, the aircraft providing the fuel is specially designed for the task, although refueling pods can be fitted to existing aircraft designs if the "probe and drogue" system is to be used (see later). The cost of the refueling equipment on both tanker and receiver aircraft and the specialized aircraft handling of the aircraft to be refueled (very close "line astern" formation flying) has resulted in the activity only being used in military operations.
Aerial refueling is the key to the rapid airlift of materiel and forces. In addition to refueling airlift aircraft, the KC-10, along with the smaller KC-135, move thousands of tons of cargo and thousands of troops in support which is a great example that the massive Persian Gulf build-up. The statistics show that the KC-10 and the KC-135 conducted about 51,700 separate aerial refueling operations and delivered over 125 million gallons (475 million liters) of fuel without missing a single scheduled rendezvous.
See the following KC-10 Aircraft Draft:
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Reported by catch4all.com, Sandra Englund, September 3rd, 2009 |
Sources:
wikipedia