Pakistan Gets Aerial Refueling: Strategy Page

December 9, 2008: Pakistan has received the first two of four Il-78 aerial refueling aircraft from Ukraine. The Il-78 is a modified Russian Il-76 transport. The tanker version can carry 105 tons of fuel. This will give Pakistan its first aerial refueling capability.

Meanwhile, the pioneer in aerial refueling, and largest practitioner, the U.S., is still trying to select a new aerial tanker. The chief competitors are the U.S. made KC-767, which has already been sold to Italy and Japan this year. The KC-767 is based on the Boeing 767-200 airliner, which sells for about $120 million. The 767 has been in service since 1982, and over 800 have been manufactured so far. Boeing developed the KC-767, at a cost of nearly a billion dollars, on its own. Boeing also developed the original KC-135 tanker in the 1950s, and has since built over 2,000 aerial tankers.

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