WASHINGTON — The U.S. Air Force conducted its first aerial refueling of fighter aircraft by a business tanker on Nov. 6.
The business refueling of F-16 Fighting Falcons from Osan Air Base in South Korea took place as a part of the Commando Sling 23 joint exercise conducted in Singapore. The bilateral training event with the Republic of Singapore Air Force is sponsored by Pacific Air Forces and is meant to enhance how the island nation operates with america.
This aerial refueling marked a significant step forward for the U.S. Air Force’s efforts to broaden this capability. The service has considered augmenting its refueling operations with business tankers for several years. Earlier this yr, a business tanker refueled an E-3 Sentry and an RC-135 Rivet Joint during an Air Combat Command exercise, the service said in a Nov. 9 release.
This month’s refueling during Commando Sling was carried out by a KDC-10 aircraft, the service said, and pictures showed the tanker bore the markings of Omega Air Refueling. The Virginia-based company, which formed in 2004, has been a main contractor to the U.S. Navy for business refueling services since 2007. It has also supported the air forces of U.S. allies equivalent to Australia and NATO nations.
Lt. Col. Curtis Holtman, the air mobility operations chief for Pacific Air Forces, said this refueling served as a “proof of concept” to point out a business tanker can gas up the Air Force’s fighters during exercises and training, while keeping its own tankers available for real-world operations.
“If we are able to use business air refueling to cover the purpose A to point B movements for exercise participation across unit readiness training, then it frees up our warfighter tanker fleet to be able to respond for emerging contingency requirements,” Holtman said. “That is one other mechanism that we are able to leverage to extend our warfighter readiness.”
Photographs showed not less than 4 F-16 jets from Osan’s thirty sixth Fighter Squadron flying alongside the Omega tanker on their strategy to Singapore. The KDC-10 can carry as much as 247,000 kilos of fuel to gas up other aircraft.
Holtman said this tanker carried greater than 40 passengers and 4 pallet positions value of cargo to point out how it may also execute airlift missions. The KDC-10 can carry as much as 100,000 kilos of freight or passengers.
Holtman said business tankers are expected to also refuel F-15C Eagle and F-22 Raptor fighters by the point the exercise ends.
Stephen Losey is the air warfare reporter for Defense News. He previously covered leadership and personnel issues at Air Force Times, and the Pentagon, special operations and air warfare at Military.com. He has traveled to the Middle East to cover U.S. Air Force operations.