Home and Senate variations of the FY2026 NDAA supply competing visions for the Air Drive’s refueling fleet, threatening to disrupt a newly minted modernization technique.
On Oct. 8, 2025, america Senate handed its model of the Fiscal Yr 2026 Nationwide Protection Authorization Act (NDAA) after the Home of Representatives authorised its model of the protection invoice earlier in September. Whereas each chambers should nonetheless negotiate and vote on a compromise invoice earlier than it’s signed into legislation, the 2026 NDAA is poised to considerably alter the construction of the Air Drive’s strategic aerial refueling fleet.
Strategic aerial refueling plane, also referred to as tankers, are the basic spine of the U.S. navy’s skill to undertaking energy throughout the globe. Tankers allow plane to fly longer and additional by offloading gas in-flight to a receiving plane.
Growing older fleet modernization
The US tanker fleet, composed of a projected 466 plane initially of fiscal yr 2025, is present process a large-scale modernization effort that goals to retire getting older plane and procure new capabilities. The Boeing KC-135 Stratotanker, first delivered to the Air Drive in 1957, constitutes roughly 80% of the tanker fleet and is the oldest fleet operated by the Air Drive at a median age of over 63 years outdated.
In 2011, the Air Drive awarded a contract to acquire 179 KC-46A Pegasus to exchange roughly one-third of the KC-135 fleet. The primary KC-46 was delivered to the Air Drive in 2019, and the ultimate plane is anticipated to be delivered round 2029.
Past the KC-46
The KC-46 program solely represents the primary part of tanker modernization. The Air Drive deliberate follow-on applications for years, however they’ve solely served as tough pointers for protection planners and have been topic to usually dramatic change.
In 2023, the Air Drive introduced it might abandon two applications, KC-Y and KC-Z, in favor of a plan to acquire 75 extra KC-46 plane and speed up efforts to develop and discipline a tanker plane with superior capabilities, dubbed the Subsequent Era Air-Refueling System (NGAS). The Air Drive cited considerations that aggressive procurement for a full-scale tanker program would gradual refueler modernization efforts and push again the deployment of superior capabilities.
In July 2025, the Pentagon introduced that it might proceed with plans to acquire a further 75 KC-46 plane and licensed the contract in October.
Home restrictions on procurement
Nonetheless, provisions included within the Home’s model of the NDAA may threaten to derail it. A provision included by the Home Armed Companies Committee would restrict the Air Drive from procuring KC-46 previous a complete of 183 plane till the Secretary of Protection certifies that the Pentagon “has developed and is implementing a plan to appropriate important technical deficiencies with the KC-46”.
Persistent technical points
The KC-46 has confirmed troublesome for the Air Drive, with Congressional concern centered on persistent technical points. Chief amongst them is the plane’s Distant Imaginative and prescient System (RVS), which changed the viewing window utilized by growth operators with a computerized digicam and sensor system. The Air Drive ordered Boeing to revamp the system as a result of readability and glare points that would jeopardize refueling operations.
Whereas Boeing’s up to date RVS 2.0 addresses many of those points, it has slipped three years not on time, with approval probably in 2027 – that means many of the 179 unique plane would require retrofits. The plane has additionally confronted different important deficiencies, together with an excessively stiff refueling growth that resulted in a number of severe incidents – the latest of those being in July 2025. Regardless of these challenges and delays, the KC-46 continues to help fight operations with an growing position within the Air Drive’s refueling operations.
Wild ATC audio, a misplaced tail growth and dwell missiles turns into fairly the story 👀
NOBLE42 (F-15E Mountain Residence AFB) had a incident with WIDE12 (Boeing KC-46 17-46028) yesterday close to Santa Barbara, California whereas refueling throughout a CAP (Fight Air Patrol) which was imposing a… pic.twitter.com/VkIJJZ1OIT
— Thenewarea51 (@thenewarea51) August 23, 2024
Key members of the Home Armed Companies Committee, similar to Chairman Mike Rogers (R-AL), have been vocal critics of the KC-46 program and former protection authorization payments have aimed to stop or gradual additional KC-46 procurement.
Further Home and Senate provisions
The Home model of the fiscal yr 2026 NDAA additional proposes a minimize of $300 million in procurement for the KC-46, which may lead to a lower of delivered plane per yr, and an $80 million minimize to analysis and growth funding for brand new capabilities for the plane.
The Home additionally included provisions that prohibit the retirement of main mission KC-135s working with the Air Drive Reserve and improve the congressionally-mandated tanker fleet minimal of 466 plane to an incremental 504 plane by 2027 – leading to a possible pause in retiring and changing older KC-135s as new KC-46 enter service.
The Home invoice additional requires the flight-ready preservation of retired KC-10 Extenders, which the Air Drive faraway from service in Sept. 2024. Lots of the KC-10 saved on the plane boneyard at Davis-Monthan Air Drive Base have refueling booms and engines eliminated, elevating questions on restoration feasibility.
The Senate-passed model of the NDAA solely incorporates one provision associated to tanker plane. The availability requires the Secretary of the Air Drive to retain and reassign any KC-135 changed by incoming KC-46, however in contrast to the Home NDAA, the Senate model establishes a criterion for retention based mostly on out there manpower and coaching availability.
What occurs subsequent
The method for reconciling the differing variations of the NDAA stays unsure, with lawmakers prone to have interaction in both casual negotiations or convene a proper convention committee. It stays probably that NDAA reconciliation won’t be a direct precedence for Congress as negotiations to finish the present authorities shutdown will probably stay the principle focus over the subsequent weeks.
Nonetheless, it’s clear that political leaders in each chambers and throughout the aisle share a standard objective: to take care of and increase the tanker fleet to higher place the U.S. navy for potential conflicts on the horizon.
