MCCONNELL AIR FORCE BASE, Kan. (AFNS) —
The twenty second Air Refueling Wing flew a KC-46A Pegasus with no copilot Oct. 25 to validate procedures for working with a restricted aircrew for sure potential high-end fight eventualities.
This employment idea permits the KC-46 to finish its main mission with a decreased crew complement when wanted to quickly launch plane with threats inbound or lengthen long-range operations within the air with offset crews.
“In wartime, airfields are static targets, as are any plane on the airfield when an assault is inbound,” mentioned Col. Nate Vogel, twenty second ARW commander. “However as soon as airborne, the plane is a cellular platform able to maneuver and persevering with to supply mission functionality for the combatant commander.”
The mission was executed inside army check airspace and included two KC-46 sorties with a decreased crew complement of solely a single pilot and increase operator. The primary sortie flew the sample solely, adopted by a debrief and evaluation. The second sortie instantly adopted and completed a full mission profile together with floor operations; preflight duties; takeoff; aerial refueling rendezvous; air refueling on-load and offload; touchdown; and debrief. The increase operator was co-located within the cockpit with the pilot, besides when performing increase operations, and a second teacher pilot was aboard all through the whole mission to function a security observer.
The KC-46’s fundamental crew complement is a pilot, a copilot and a increase operator, with extra aircrew added for long-duration flights. A second KC-46 with a full crew complement of material consultants accompanied the primary plane to supply help by radio, if wanted.
“This mission was practiced extensively in flight simulators,” Vogel mentioned. “Every part of analysis has been rigorously thought of, taking into consideration crew security, plane capabilities, and current federal aviation requirements. That allowed us to make a deliberate and thorough evaluation of what dangers and hurdles are current, the best way to mitigate these, and allowed us to suggest coaching necessities to familiarize crews with the fundamental capabilities and demanding controls of unfamiliar crew positions.”
This flight was a part of Air Mobility Command’s broader exploration of ways, strategies and procedures that deal with the distinctive stresses anticipated in a high-end, peer-competitor struggle.
“I’ve been very clear with my workforce: victory will likely be delivered on the again of the mobility air forces, and doing so means taking a tough have a look at each device we now have at our disposal,” mentioned Gen. Mike Minihan, commander of AMC. “The dynamics of the longer term working setting require us to suppose in methods we’d not normally suppose.”
