What the future of aerial refueling looks like

MQ-25 in flight (Photo Courtesy of Boeing).The aerial refueling mission is evolving radically. For decades, aerial refueling has extended mission range for the joint force fleet with extra fuel for fighters, bombers, cargo and reconnaissance aircraft to fly farther.Multi-mission versatility and new technology integration enable next-generation tankers to do far more than refueling alone. As these new capabilities are being fielded, an emerging team of systems approach to aerial refueling makes a variety of mission capability options possible for the warfighter and creates multiple challenges for adversaries.Boeing’s KC-46A Pegasus and MQ-25TM StingrayTM already demonstrate the advanced capabilities that the world’s most advanced tankers bring to the fleet today and serve as operational pathfinders for a next-generation aerial refueling team of systems as the joint force pushes to stay ahead of near-peer threats.Here are five examples of how the KC-46A and MQ-25 are transforming the rol...