I know from my own experience (as a former Air Force public affairs officer) that everything about the operation of the U.S. Air Force is calculated with precision. This level of sophistication comes from thousands of the brightest and best trained individuals in America's workforce. So when the team at Air Mobility Command calculates precisely how many tankers will travel from each base with details about what they will carry, when they'll take off, where they'll go and how much fuel they'll offload to which receiving aircraft, you better believe that these experts have the answer down to the last gallon of fuel.
With this type of precision, you can also count on the fact that the Air Force knows what they are doing when they plan for the amount of space on the runway and on the ramp to carry out the mission. They've had more than a few years of experience figuring out how to maximize the tails on the ramp and minimizing the distance from a tanker to the receiver in the air. Flexibility and maneuverability are key. Don't just take my word for it, take it from a subject matter expert. Retired Air Force officer Stu Pugh, a former chief of Tanker Operations at AMC'S Tanker Airlift Control Center, recently responded to one of our blogs. He has written in before and we appreciate that he took the time to respond on the UnitedStatesTanker blog to share some valuable insight.
Here's a link to Stu's posting.
Tanker Size Matters
When combat operations begin, you can bet tankers are 100% committed to air refueling support. And I assure you, that if operating out of a small constrained ramp where you may have limited space, maximizing the tails on the ramp is critical. For those who truly understand tanker operations, there is one basic concept that has held true campaign after campaign, and most likely into the future, booms in the air for combat support, fuel in the air for deployment/fighter drags. Don't forget, we buy aircraft based on combat. Once the air bridge rolls up, generally combat forces are in place (but always fluid), and tankers move forward to the AOR for combat support. Read more...
Comments
Stu makes some good points, and he appears to speak from direct experience, but his post is based on a comparison of the A330 and the 767. How does his analysis work if the 777 airframe is used instead?