Tanker Times (Updated)

Kansas and New Hampshire lawmakers announced today, and the Air Force confirmed in a statement released this afternoon, that Pease Air National Guard Base, NH, and McConnell Air Force Base, KS, have been selected to host the service's new KC-46 tankers.

Additionally, Altus Air Force Base in Oklahoma will be the home site for the KC-46's formal training unit.

New Hampshire's Senate representatives, Jeanne Shaheen (D) and Kelly Ayotte (R), said that Pease ANGB's 157th Air Refueling Wing was picked as the first Guard site to host the new KC-46 refueling tankers. Pease ANGB's 157th Air Refueling Wing should receive12 new tankers beginning in 2018.

Kansas lawmakers also announced in a joint press statement today that the Air Force has informed them that McConnell AFB will be the main operating base "for replacing KC-135R tanker aircraft with KC-46A's beginning in 2016." Kansas Sens. Jerry Moran and Pat Roberts and Reps. Lynn Jenkins and Mike Pompeo, all Republicans, issued the joint statement. McConnell AFB, which will receive a total of 36 new KC-46s, is the home of the 22nd Air Refueling Wing.

"This is great news for Pease and the dedicated members of the 157th Air Refueling Wing," Shaheen and Ayotte said in their statement. "We're thrilled that the Air Force recognizes Pease's many strategic advantages as well as the 157th's exceptional record of service. We’re confident that Pease will continue to provide the best air refueling support in the Air Force for decades to come."

Shaheen and Ayotte boasted in the statement about the jobs and funding the base's selection would bring to the state. In January, the Air Force announced that Pease was one of five Air National Guard finalists to receive the KC-46. The others were Forbes Field Air National Guard Base, KS, Pittsburgh International Airport Air Guard Station, PA, Rickenbacker Air Guard Station, OH, and Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst, NJ.

Pease ANGB was chosen because of its location in a high-demand area for aerial refueling and because of its history as a successful active-reserve association location, the Air Force said in its statement.

Kansas lawmakers, in their statement, noted that Forbes Field in Topeka had originally been one of the Guard candidate bases but was not selected by the Air Force. Forbes Field is the home of the 190th Air Refueling Wing.

"The selection of not just one, but both Kansas Air Force bases as candidates is a testament to the critical role our state plays in supporting all branches of our military and allied partners as they carry out missions overseas and at home," Kansas lawmakers said in their statement. "Strategically positioned in the heart of the United States, the location, capacity and mission of McConnell and Forbes make both bases exceptionally equipped to provide air mobility globally at a moment's notice." Forbes Field remains a strong candidate for future basing decisions, according to the statement.

The Air Force statement adds that McConnell AFB is also located in a prominent location with high demand for aerial refueling and will provide a "central location for the new KC-46A Regional Maintenance Training Center."

For the training unit, the Air Force said that Altus AFB was selected because it has superior infrastructure, requires minimal new construction, and because of the presence of tanker and cargo aircraft training units there. "There is significant benefit of collocating KC-46A trainers with both tanker and heavy receiver aircraft for training purposes," Timothy Bridges, the Air Force deputy assistant secretary for installations, said in the service's release.

Altus AFB hosts KC-135 tanker and C-17 cargo aircraft training.

The site selections announced by the Air Force today mean that Altus AFB, McConnell AFB and Pease ANGB are very likely, but not certain, to receive KC-46 aircraft later this decade. The service still needs to perform a formal environmental impact statement for each site, and those EIS documents must be certified by the Air Force secretary and chief of staff before construction or other activity can begin to prepare the bases to accept the new tankers.

The KC-46 will replace a portion of the service's KC-135 fleet, which dates back to the 1950s. The legacy aircraft is operated by the Air Force's active and reserve components.

(Editor's Note: This blog was updated at 4:30 p.m. Eastern Standard Time to include an Air Force statement on the basing of KC-46 tankers at bases in Kansas and New Hampshire.)