USAF Pursuit of NGAS, As Service Examines Future Self-Protection for Tankers - Defense Daily

At the Air & Space Forces Association’s annual conference in National Harbor, Maryland, a top U.S. Air Force acquisition official said the service won’t pursue a future tanker airframe focused on stealth. Instead, William “Elvis” Bailey said the goal is self-protection systems to help ensure access for refueling tankers in future conflicts, including both tanker and transport access. The remarks came as the Air Force reoriented work on the Next Generation Air Refueling System (NGAS), previously considered a successor to Boeing KC-46 and KC-135 tankers. The service ended the NGAS new-airframe effort, plans to accelerate NGAS by four years to 2036, and will buy 75 additional KC-46A Pegasus tankers, targeting 188 KC-46s by 2030 out of 263 total.