MARCH 28, 2025 – As a warfighting command responsible for projecting, maneuvering and sustaining the joint force, U.S. Transportation Command depends heavily on the U.S. tanker aircraft fleet, which includes both the aging KC-135 Stratotanker and the new KC-46 Pegasus.
“We welcome the service-led recapitalization plans for the air refueling fleet, which must continue uninterrupted into the future,” Air Force Gen. Randall Reed, Transcom commander, said yesterday on Capitol Hill. “Even after the Air Force accepts the final contracted KC-46, the average age of the remaining KC-135 fleet will be 67 years old.”
As the KC-46 replaces the KC-135, Transcom needs to start thinking about replacing the other aircraft it relies on, Reed said while testifying before a joint hearing of the House Armed Services Committee, which included lawmakers from both the subcommittee on seapower and projection forces and the subcommittee on readiness.
“The start of a recapitalization plan is due for our airlift fleet because of the long lead time for platform development,” he said.
The U.S. military uses both the C-5 Galaxy aircraft, which was first manufactured in the late 1960s, and the C-17 Globemaster III aircraft, which was first manufactured in the early 1990s.
“Both the C-5 and the C-17 are workhorses for us,” Reed said. “They continue to perform when we need them to. Those airplanes also require investment to make sure that we can sustain them as well.”
Reed said the time is now to find a replacement for the C-17 because of the age of the platform and the time needed to field its replacement. Transcom is also responsible for surface transportation — using ships to transport goods over waterways — to move materials and personnel in support of the joint force. Transcom is currently looking to bolster America’s Ready Reserve Force fleet by purchasing used shipping vessels.
The command received permission from Congress to buy as many as 10 used ships to put into the fleet. It’s already bought seven and wants to buy two more this year. On March 15, 2025, President Donald J. Trump signed a full-year continuing resolution to fund the government until the end of the fiscal year. That CR contains funding for Transcom to buy two more used ships.
“I’d like to thank this committee for the support that you gave to make sure that we can … procure two ships off the market,” Reed said.
He added that anything Congress can do to accelerate the procurement of additional used foreign ships would be helpful.
The government-owned RRF fleet consists of commercial vessels crewed by civilian mariners, and it is aging. The median age of the 46 roll-on/roll-off ships in the fleet is 47 years.
By C. Todd Lopez, DOD News