BAE Systems recently reached a major sustainment milestone completing its 1,000th U.S. Air Force’s KC‑135 Stratotanker repair. This milestone, completed at BAE Systems’ facility in Endicott, NY, underscores a decades‑long role to keep the Air Force’s primary refueling aircraft fleet flying strong and operationally ready for more than 40 years.
“Reaching this milestone for the KC-135 is a testament to our team’s technical expertise and the strength of the system’s design,” said Corson Witham, program manager for sustainment at BAE Systems. “By maintaining the reliability of these critical flight systems, we support the U.S. Air Force’s operational readiness goals.”
As the sole provider of the tanker’s safety-critical Fuel Management System (FMS), BAE Systems employees maintain the KC-135 Fuel Management Advisory Computer (FMAC) and the Integrated Fuel Management Panel (IFMP) delivering legacy hardware maintenance to prevent obsolescence and provide modern upgrades that help the aircraft operate in contested airspaces.
To further enhance mission readiness, BAE Systems has developed an FMS upgrade featuring line-replaceable units (LRUs) that exceed future mean time between failure requirements. The system’s open architecture complies with the U.S. Air Force Aviation Maintenance System—Global Requirements Assurance framework, providing greater flexibility for future upgrades and repairs.
This work is supported by BAE Systems’ 40 years of experience delivering safety-critical aeronautic systems, including fly-by-wire controls, fuel management controls, electronic engine controls, power management systems, and other mission-critical avionics.