Marshall Aerospace is delighted that the US DoD announced that The Boeing Company was awarded the United States Air Force KC-46A Tanker Aircraft programme. Boeing selected Marshall Aerospace last year to be the supplier of the integrated Body Fuel Tanks for this programme.

Steve Fitz-Gerald, CEO, Marshall Aerospace, said: “Marshall Aerospace welcomes Boeing’s success following the award of the United States Air Force Tanker Aircraft programme. Over the past few months we have been supporting Boeing with definition and risk reduction work, and we are now looking forward to starting the detailed work on the programme.”

He added: “Marshall Aerospace is extremely proud to be contributing to this programme with its UK based world-class engineering skills and experience.”

The United States Air Force is expected to procure 179 KC-46A tanker aircraft from Boeing; Marshall Aerospace will contribute four integrated Body Fuel Tanks per aircraft to enhance the aircraft’s flight range and refuelling capability. The initial contract will be for the design, certification and manufacture of an initial batch of development tanks, and it is expected that production orders will follow for more than 650 tanks for the United States Air Force over a fifteen year period.

The potential value of this programme to Marshall Aerospace is expected to exceed £100m over the duration of the programme, and the company believes the KC-46A tanker aircraft will have good export prospects with potential for the manufacture of further integrated Body Fuel Tanks into the future.

The award to Marshall Aerospace builds on a long collaboration with Boeing on integrated Body Fuel Tanks, including the 747, 777, and the P-8 Poseidon programmes.

Marshall Aerospace press release