U.S. Air Force Selects Tennessee Air National Guard for New KC-46A Pegasus Tankers
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The Air Force has named McGhee Tyson Air National Guard Base in Tennessee as its preferred location for KC-46A Pegasus Main Operating Base 7, paving the way for the 134th Air Refueling Wing to retire its aging KC-135 fleet. The move marks a generational shift in how the Guard supports high-end mobility and network-centric operations across global theaters.
The Air National Guard disclosed on November 19, 2025, that the U.S. Air Force selected McGhee Tyson Air National Guard Base near Knoxville, Tennessee, as the preferred location to host the KC-46A Pegasus Main Operating Base 7, positioning the 134th Air Refueling Wing to retire its KC-135 Stratotankers and receive eight next-generation tankers. For the aircrew on the ramp, this is not just a basing announcement but a generational pivot in how the Guard contributes to high-end air mobility. Senior leaders describe the move as both a vital step in recapitalization and a transformational moment for Tennessee’s Airmen, reflecting years of lobbying and infrastructure investment by the wing and the state.Follow Army Recognition on Google News at this link
The KC-46A Pegasus combines long-range refueling, strategic airlift, and advanced defensive systems in a single platform, using fly-by-wire boom technology, multi-point drogues, and a modern digital cockpit to support U.S. and NATO air operations in contested environments (Picture source: U.S. DoW).
The KC-46A is built around a militarized Boeing 767-2C airframe powered by two Pratt & Whitney PW4062 engines, each delivering roughly 62,000 pounds of thrust, giving the tanker intercontinental reach at a maximum takeoff weight of about 415,000 pounds. The aircraft carries up to 212,299 pounds of fuel, roughly 10 percent more than a KC-135, and can accommodate 18 standard 463L pallets or about 65,000 pounds of cargo plus 58 passengers, allowing it to swing between pure tanker, strategic airlift, and aeromedical evacuation roles on short notice. This multi-mission flexibility is central to the Pentagon’s decision to double down on the Pegasus as its principal bridge platform until the Next Generation Air-refueling System, or NGAS, enters service in the mid-2030s.
At the heart of the Pegasus is a highly integrated refueling architecture. A fly-by-wire boom delivers high offload rates to bombers and large transports, while a centerline drogue and optional wing aerial refueling pods allow the same jet to service probe-equipped fighters, rotorcraft, and tilt-rotor platforms in a single mission. Unlike legacy tankers, the boom is controlled from an Aerial Refueling Operator Station directly behind the cockpit using panoramic 3D displays rather than a prone operator in the tail. Remote Vision System 2.0, now entering flight testing, replaces the original camera suite that suffered from glare and depth-perception issues and was one of the main sources of program delay and withheld payments. The flight deck itself uses a Rockwell Collins Pro Line Fusion–derived architecture, with four large-format displays modeled on the Boeing 787, improving situational awareness and reducing pilot workload compared to the KC-135’s more analog cockpit.
The KC-46A is wired for the AAQ-24 Large Aircraft Infrared Countermeasures suite, combining missile-warning sensors and laser-based jammers to defeat heat-seeking surface-to-air missiles, and it incorporates hardened wiring and systems protection to improve resilience against electromagnetic effects. Boeing and the Air Force are also fielding a Block 1 upgrade that brings secure line-of-sight and beyond-line-of-sight communications and formalizes the tanker’s role as an Advanced Battle Management System node, effectively turning the Pegasus into a flying data backbone for joint and coalition air packages. In large theaters such as INDOPACOM, where Link 16 and other networks can be fragmented by geography and jamming, a survivable tanker that can translate and redistribute data between stealth fighters, bombers, and ISR platforms becomes as valuable as the fuel it carries.
The Stratotanker’s four-engine 1950s airframe offers less fuel, far less cargo volume, and only rudimentary self-protection, and it lacks the same level of digital connectivity and mission-system growth margin. In exercises like Mobility Guardian 23 over the Indo-Pacific, KC-46 crews have already flown 35-hour endurance sorties, acting as both refuelers and communications hubs supporting Agile Combat Employment dispersal across vast distances, a mission profile that would severely strain older tankers. From a NATO and EUCOM perspective, a Pegasus wing based in Tennessee strengthens refueling options for reinforcement flows across the North Atlantic and Arctic, while also giving U.S. Transportation Command another networked tanker hub to support crisis responses in the Caribbean or Middle East.
The 134th ARW and state partners funded a new 10,000-foot runway, a $134 million project sized for fully loaded widebody operations, and a purpose-built $32.4 million hangar engineered around the KC-46’s dimensions and maintenance needs. Local leaders describe the selection as an incredible win for Tennessee, while Col. Ronald Selvidge calls the KC-46 transition a transformational moment that locks the wing into the center of Air Mobility Command’s modernization strategy for decades. A final basing decision will follow an environmental impact analysis due no later than 2027, with the first of eight aircraft scheduled to arrive in 2031, replacing every KC-135 currently on the ramp. In practice, that means Tennessee Air National Guard crews will be among the Guard’s lead elements in operating a tanker fleet that is expected to grow to more than 260 KC-46s as NGAS is developed, a clear vote of confidence in both the platform and the unit.
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The Air Force has named McGhee Tyson Air National Guard Base in Tennessee as its preferred location for KC-46A Pegasus Main Operating Base 7, paving the way for the 134th Air Refueling Wing to retire its aging KC-135 fleet. The move marks a generational shift in how the Guard supports high-end mobility and network-centric operations across global theaters.
The Air National Guard disclosed on November 19, 2025, that the U.S. Air Force selected McGhee Tyson Air National Guard Base near Knoxville, Tennessee, as the preferred location to host the KC-46A Pegasus Main Operating Base 7, positioning the 134th Air Refueling Wing to retire its KC-135 Stratotankers and receive eight next-generation tankers. For the aircrew on the ramp, this is not just a basing announcement but a generational pivot in how the Guard contributes to high-end air mobility. Senior leaders describe the move as both a vital step in recapitalization and a transformational moment for Tennessee’s Airmen, reflecting years of lobbying and infrastructure investment by the wing and the state.
Follow Army Recognition on Google News at this link
The KC-46A Pegasus combines long-range refueling, strategic airlift, and advanced defensive systems in a single platform, using fly-by-wire boom technology, multi-point drogues, and a modern digital cockpit to support U.S. and NATO air operations in contested environments (Picture source: U.S. DoW).
The KC-46A is built around a militarized Boeing 767-2C airframe powered by two Pratt & Whitney PW4062 engines, each delivering roughly 62,000 pounds of thrust, giving the tanker intercontinental reach at a maximum takeoff weight of about 415,000 pounds. The aircraft carries up to 212,299 pounds of fuel, roughly 10 percent more than a KC-135, and can accommodate 18 standard 463L pallets or about 65,000 pounds of cargo plus 58 passengers, allowing it to swing between pure tanker, strategic airlift, and aeromedical evacuation roles on short notice. This multi-mission flexibility is central to the Pentagon’s decision to double down on the Pegasus as its principal bridge platform until the Next Generation Air-refueling System, or NGAS, enters service in the mid-2030s.
At the heart of the Pegasus is a highly integrated refueling architecture. A fly-by-wire boom delivers high offload rates to bombers and large transports, while a centerline drogue and optional wing aerial refueling pods allow the same jet to service probe-equipped fighters, rotorcraft, and tilt-rotor platforms in a single mission. Unlike legacy tankers, the boom is controlled from an Aerial Refueling Operator Station directly behind the cockpit using panoramic 3D displays rather than a prone operator in the tail. Remote Vision System 2.0, now entering flight testing, replaces the original camera suite that suffered from glare and depth-perception issues and was one of the main sources of program delay and withheld payments. The flight deck itself uses a Rockwell Collins Pro Line Fusion–derived architecture, with four large-format displays modeled on the Boeing 787, improving situational awareness and reducing pilot workload compared to the KC-135’s more analog cockpit.
The KC-46A is wired for the AAQ-24 Large Aircraft Infrared Countermeasures suite, combining missile-warning sensors and laser-based jammers to defeat heat-seeking surface-to-air missiles, and it incorporates hardened wiring and systems protection to improve resilience against electromagnetic effects. Boeing and the Air Force are also fielding a Block 1 upgrade that brings secure line-of-sight and beyond-line-of-sight communications and formalizes the tanker’s role as an Advanced Battle Management System node, effectively turning the Pegasus into a flying data backbone for joint and coalition air packages. In large theaters such as INDOPACOM, where Link 16 and other networks can be fragmented by geography and jamming, a survivable tanker that can translate and redistribute data between stealth fighters, bombers, and ISR platforms becomes as valuable as the fuel it carries.
The Stratotanker’s four-engine 1950s airframe offers less fuel, far less cargo volume, and only rudimentary self-protection, and it lacks the same level of digital connectivity and mission-system growth margin. In exercises like Mobility Guardian 23 over the Indo-Pacific, KC-46 crews have already flown 35-hour endurance sorties, acting as both refuelers and communications hubs supporting Agile Combat Employment dispersal across vast distances, a mission profile that would severely strain older tankers. From a NATO and EUCOM perspective, a Pegasus wing based in Tennessee strengthens refueling options for reinforcement flows across the North Atlantic and Arctic, while also giving U.S. Transportation Command another networked tanker hub to support crisis responses in the Caribbean or Middle East.
The 134th ARW and state partners funded a new 10,000-foot runway, a $134 million project sized for fully loaded widebody operations, and a purpose-built $32.4 million hangar engineered around the KC-46’s dimensions and maintenance needs. Local leaders describe the selection as an incredible win for Tennessee, while Col. Ronald Selvidge calls the KC-46 transition a transformational moment that locks the wing into the center of Air Mobility Command’s modernization strategy for decades. A final basing decision will follow an environmental impact analysis due no later than 2027, with the first of eight aircraft scheduled to arrive in 2031, replacing every KC-135 currently on the ramp. In practice, that means Tennessee Air National Guard crews will be among the Guard’s lead elements in operating a tanker fleet that is expected to grow to more than 260 KC-46s as NGAS is developed, a clear vote of confidence in both the platform and the unit.
