Depending on fuel storage configuration, the KC-135 can carry up to 83,000 pounds of cargo. Nearly all internal fuel can be pumped through the flying boom, the KC-135's primary fuel transfer method.

After delays, cost overruns, and refueling boom issues, the KC-135 will be replaced by the Boeing KC-46 Pegasus; however, the Stratotanker will remain in service for at least another decade.

Marlo Fleck might be the world’s most highly trained gas station attendant. That’s how Fleck, a 37-year-old U.S Air Force Reserve major, jokingly describes her job flying Boeing KC-135 ...

While the KC-135 was originally designed for boom refueling, it can also perform drogue refueling by using a boom-drogue adapter (BDA), which is installed on the flight boom before flight.

We see them flying above the Sioux City metro frequently, the large KC-135 refueling planes based at the 185th Air Refueling Wing. While the pilots are those behind the controls, it’s the aviation ...

The Merlin team in front of KC-135 Stratotanker ... aerial refueling mission on a KC-46A Pegasus with only a pilot and boom operator. In February 2022, the Defense Advanced Research Projects ...

The KC-46 Pegasus refueling tanker's troubled remote vision system is now unlikely to see a replacement upgrade until summer 2027, the Air Force said, putting the Boeing program more than three ...

Credit: Peter Bakema/Metrea Metrea is acquiring France’s entire fleet of 14 Boeing KC-135 tankers, more than tripling the size of its boom-equipped air-to-air refueling (AAR) inventory ...

Older refueling tankers like the KC-10 Extender and KC-135 Stratotanker require boom operators to look through a window in the back while steering a boom into the receiving aircraft. KC-135 boom ...