Aerial Refueling Tankers: Air Force Needs More Focused Metrics and a Risk-Based Mitigation Plan to Improve Sustainment
What GAO Found The Air Force’s metrics for aircraft availability and mission capability do not provide a complete picture of the KC-135 and KC-46A tanker fleet’s ability to meet its primary refueling mission. The tanker fleet did not meet the Air Force’s availability and capability standards from fiscal year 2019 through fiscal year 2025, but these metrics do not specifically account for the aircraft’s ability to meet the primary refueling mission. The Air Force also calculates a “fully mission capable” (FMC) rate to measure the fleet’s ability to meet all its missions, which decreased substantially during that 7-year period. According to Air Force officials, while FMC is a clear indicator..
Reported by Maria LopezAerial Refueling Tankers: Air Force Needs More Focused Metrics and a Risk-Based Mitigation Plan to Improve Sustainment.
The item is dated Wed, 10 Jun 2026 07:12:36 -0400.
TeamCog is carrying it as a audits report from GAO reports and testimonies RSS.
What GAO Found The Air Force’s metrics for aircraft availability and mission capability do not provide a complete picture of the KC-135 and KC-46A tanker fleet’s ability to meet its primary refueling mission.
The tanker fleet did not meet the Air Force’s availability and capability standards from fiscal year 2019 through fiscal year 2025, but these metrics do not specifically account for the aircraft’s ability to meet the primary refueling mission.
The Air Force also calculates a “fully mission capable” (FMC) rate to measure the fleet’s ability to meet all its missions, which decreased substantially during that 7-year period.
According to Air Force officials, while FMC is a clear indicator…
The handoff preserves the official source citation and source-completeness evidence supplied by discovery.
Official Source
GAO reports and testimonies RSS. Accessed 2026-06-10T15:00:04.942Z.