Boeing, Air Force turn page on controversial tanker program.

• Author: Magnuson, Stew
• Position: ANALYSIS

The Boeing Co. in September opened the first of five planned systems integration laboratories for the Air Force's new KC-46 aerial refueling tanker program.

A few weeks later, the company began assembling the first of the refueling booms in a nearby building at Boeing Field in Seattle.

"We are pleased that this facility opened on schedule," Maureen Dougherty, KC-46 vice president and program manager for Boeing, said in a statement.

"On schedule" and "ahead of schedule" are two phrases that have not traditionally been associated with the Air Force's long, tortured road to replacing its fleet of aging aerial refueling aircraft.

From an ill-fated plan in 2002 to lease instead of purchase new tankers from Boeing, to a nearly five-year process to finally award a contract to Boeing in 2011, "delays," "corruption" and "protests," were words more often associated with the program formerly known as the KC-X.

Boeing is clearly happy to spread some good news.

The assembly of the booms that will slide down from the back of the KC-46 to deliver fuel to jet fighters, or any other fixed-wing aircraft, marks the first time Boeing is moving from design activities to production.

Maj. Gen. John Thompson, the Air Force's tanker program executive officer and KC-46 program director called the opening of the facility "a big day."

The boom--based on the refueling system that Boeing pioneered 60 years ago--will be modernized and go into testing in the third quarter of 2013. The first of the five systems integrations labs will be where the boom undergoes the integration process.

Along with the Boom Assembly Center and the five systems integration laboratories, Boeing expects to open a Finishing Center in late 2013. This will be where the hardware and software is installed onto a 767 commercial airliner.

Before that, comes the critical design review, slated for the summer of 2013.

"The program has made significant progress over the past 20 months since contract award, completing several key milestones in support of the design and development phase on or ahead of schedule," Jerry Drelling, Boeing KC-46 tanker program spokesman, said in October.

Boeing is currently executing the engineering, manufacturing and design contract, which will require the delivery of 18 combat ready tankers by 2017.

The Air Force will conduct a critical design review of Boeing's efforts so far to wed a modernized refueling system onto one of its 767s in mid-2013. If that goes well, the first...