GE Aviation on Monday announced a new agreement with Boeing to provide the mission control system (including the flight management system) for the U.S. Air Force KC-46A refueling tanker.
The agreement is worth up to $180 million, and includes design, development and production throughout the life of the program. GE’s mission control system will be the first implementation of the Aeronautical Telecommunications Network on a DOD air vehicle for operations in the future NextGen airspace infrastructure.
Boeing completed a Preliminary Design Review (PDR) for the KC-46A tanker in May, and plans on delivering 18 combat-ready KC-46As by 2017. In the summer of 2013 the KC-46A program will undergo a Critical Design Review, and Boeing remains committed to building 179 next-generation refueling tankers to replace the Air Force’s current fleet of 416 KC-135 tankers.
“We are committed to bringing our next-generation technologies to this new tanker platform,” said Lorraine Bolsinger, president and CEO of GE Aviation Systems. “These systems will enable the aircraft to perform with navigation precision not currently available to the tanker fleet and will help enable efficient operations in our future airspace.”