Boeing completed the first flight on December 28 of a 767-2C “provisioned freighter” that will become one of the first U.S. Air Force KC-46A Pegasus aerial refueling tankers. The baseline freighter took off from Paine Field in Everett, Wash., and flew for three hours and 32 minutes, landing at Boeing Field in Seattle.

Under the KC-46A engineering and manufacturing development (EMD) contract the Air Force awarded Boeing in February 2011, the manufacturer will build two 767-2Cs and two KC-46As. Boeing will use the 767-2Cs to earn an amended type certificate from the Federal Aviation Administration prior to installing the aerial refueling components and military avionics planned for the tanker. The 767-2Cs will eventually be converted to full KC-46As.

The Air Force expects that Boeing will complete the first flight of the second EMD aircraft—a KC-46 tanker—next spring. The service requires that Boeing deliver 18 combat-ready tankers by 2017.

Air Force Col. Christopher Coombs, KC-46 system program manager, said the service is “cautiously optimistic” that flight testing will lead to a Milestone C decision to begin low-rate initial production of what will eventually be 179 tankers. “We know flight testing will lead to some discovery; today’s flight kick-starts that work,” Coombs said.