Japan expects to receive its first pair of KC-767 tankers by the end of this year’s first quarter as the controversial and much-maligned program’s development schedule at last appears firmly established. Boeing has moved modification work planned for the final three of four Japanese KC-767s on order and two of the four Italian airplanes from Finmeccanica’s Aeronavali subsidiary in Naples to Boeing’s Integrated Defense Systems facility in Wichita, Kansas, in an effort to speed their completion. Original schedules called for delivery of the first KC-767 to the Italian air force in November 2005, two and a half years ahead of the latest target of mid-2008. The Japan Air Self Defense Force originally expected its first airplane to arrive in December 2006.
Boeing attributed the delays to design changes, computer modifications and a flight test and certification program schedule that proved too aggressive under the circumstances. It hasn’t publicly placed any responsibility for the delays on Aeronovali, although Boeing did cite Wichita’s “experience” in its decision to move the completions back to the U.S. At the time, Wichita had completed three airplanes, while Aeronovali hadn’t progressed far enough on its two Italian airplanes to meet a mid-2008 delivery target.
More In Aircraft
