Article Posted on : - May 18, 2011

The first two Boeing KC-767 advanced aerial refueling tankers for ItAF formally entered into service Tuesday during a public ceremony near Rome. Photo: Boeing.

PRATICA DI MARE, ITALY (BNS): The first two Boeing KC-767 advanced aerial refueling tankers for the Italian Air Force (ItAF) formally entered into service today during a public ceremony near Rome.

Boeing delivered the aircraft on Dec. 29 and March 10 at its tanker modification facility in Wichita, Kansas. Italian crews then flew the tankers to the air base at Pratica di Mare and started training missions.

"The configuration flexibility of the KC-767 tanker allows for simultaneous refueling and passenger and cargo transport, with the potential to operate in humanitarian response, disaster relief, and emergency aeromedical evacuation of personnel," ItAF officials was quoted as saying in the Boeing news release.

Boeing is building four KC-767 Tanker Transport aircraft, designed for in-flight aerial refueling and strategic transport, to replace the ItAF B-707T/T fleet.

The Italian Air Force KC-767A is a "convertible combi," meaning it can carry all passengers, all cargo, or a combination of passengers and cargo.

In any configuration, the KC-767 has an aerial refueling boom with a remote aerial refueling operator station, as well as wing pod and centerline hose and drogue systems, and a refueling receptacle. This configuration allows for the refueling of all existing types of aircraft, both fighters and transports.

Boeing also has delivered four KC-767 tankers to Japan, hundreds of KC-135 tankers to worldwide customers, and a fleet of large KC-10 tankers delivered to the US Air Force.