Air force tankers: the debate continues.

• Author: Erwin, Sandra I.
• Position: Brief Article

In comments to reporters late last year, Gen. Norton A. Schwartz, head of the U.S. Transportation Command, said that whatever tankers the Air Force buys to replace the aging KC- 135s should be "multi-mission," serving both as tankers and as cargo aircraft. A dual-role airplane, he argued, would save millions of dollars in procurement costs.

This suggestion caused some uproar in industry circles and some Air Force officials who would prefer that the new tankers be just tankers. But the concept of a multi-mission tanker is hardly new in the U.S. military. The Marine Corps' KC-130...