A KC-46 Pegasus tanker lost its entire refueling boom during an F-22 Raptor refueling mission, causing costly damage.

Thousands of feet up and racing across the sky at hundreds of miles per hour, US Air Force tankers close to within just 12 feet of fighter jets to refuel them in flight, sometimes as little as 8 feet, ...

A's emergency landing and refueling boom damage in July 2025 was mainly due to the operator's incorrect control inputs.

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Aerial refueling is one of the most demanding and precise maneuvers in military aviation. Two aircraft traveling at hundreds of miles per hour must connect with pinpoint accuracy, transfer thousands ...

The U.S. Air Force expects to field a fix for the stiff aerial refueling boom (ARB) on the Boeing KC-46A Pegasus tanker late in fiscal 2027. “The stiff boom deficiency is being resolved via the boom ...

For decades, aerial refueling boom operators guided the fuel boom by looking directly out a window at the aircraft behind them. The new KC-46 Pegasus tanker changed that system completely. Instead of ...

Business Insider recently interviewed a US Air Force boom operator at a base in England. The boom operator is responsible for setting up the midair refueling for a receiving aircraft. They shared how ...