Israeli Air Force Delivers First KC-46A “Gideon”

Israeli Air Force Delivers First KC-46A “Gideon”

Israeli Air Force Delivers First KC-46A “Gideon”

The Israeli Air Force’s first KC-46 “Gideon” tanker was delivered less than a month after its first flight was announced.

The Israeli Air Force took delivery of its first KC-46 at Nevatim Air Base on May 27, 2026. The tanker, designated “Gideon” by the Israeli military, was delivered less than a month after the Israeli Ministry of Defense announced its first flight on LinkedIn on May 4, 2026.

The aircraft is the first of six KC-46s being procured by Israel and, according to a statement from Israel’s Ministry of Defense, “will be equipped with Israeli systems and tailored to the operational requirements of the Israeli Air Force, allowing it to expand its operational range and maintain air superiority in all theaters.”

The Israeli Air Force says the “Gideon” is “the most advanced operational refueling aircraft in the world.”

The first aircraft flying as RCH301 (“REACH 301” – the call sign commonly used by U.S. Air Force aircraft assigned to Air Mobility Command) can be tracked online.

The U.S. Department of State approved the 2020 Foreign Military Sale (FMS) of KC-46 Pegasus tankers to Israel. The approval included up to eight tankers at an estimated price of $2.4 billion.

In 2021, the Israeli government approved the acquisition, paving the way for negotiations. A year later, Boeing signed a $930 million contract for the first four KC-46s, with delivery expected in 2026.

The 2025 report noted that Israel was seeking to increase its order, resulting in the procurement of two additional KC-46s. At this stage, it is unclear whether there will be more KC-46s or whether the number of aircraft will remain at six. Some Israeli media outlets report that the total order includes eight aircraft, while others say there are still only six aircraft on order.

The KC-46 will replace Israel’s Boeing 707 “Re’em” tankers, which have been in service for about 60 years. According to available information, there are currently six 707s in service with the Israeli Air Force, so the KC-46 acquisition would be at least a one-for-one replacement.

The delivery of the first Israeli Air Force KC-46 is certainly good news for Boeing. This is because Pegasus, which had problems due to the active introduction of the service by an important customer, received attention again. Moreover, this news comes shortly after another customer, Italy, which originally decided to replace its current fleet of four KC-767 tankers with KC-46s, suspended its procurement of Pegasus and eventually signed a contract with Airbus to procure six A330 Multi-Role Tanker Transport (MRTT) aircraft.

The arrival of the first Gideon comes after the U.S. Air Force and Boeing jointly announced new plans to improve the readiness of the Pegasus tanker fleet and accelerate delivery of long-awaited upgrades. In fact, the tanker is reportedly experiencing boom-related issues, including stiffness of the telescoping actuator, fuel system leaks, delivery pauses and quality issues that are impacting its ability to fuel some types of receiver aircraft.

Among the upcoming upgrades are those for Remote Vision System 2.0 or RVS 2.0.

The system provides high-definition stereoscopic images into vision goggles attached to a type of flight helmet worn by Boomers during air-to-air refueling, and replaces the so-called “direct viewing technology” that the U.S. Air Force uses on its KC-135 and KC-10 legacy tankers. Here, the boom operator looks directly through the window of the receiver aircraft, lies prone in a rear-mounted pod, and uses a manual control stick with his right hand to “fly” the boom.

RVS 2.0 replaces the original remote camera and display architecture (RVS 1.0) used by KC-46 boom operators, introducing fixes for image washout and 3D distortion that affected the original KC-46 RVS 1.0 design, especially under certain lighting conditions. These problems, some of the most persistent problems affecting the Pegasus since it entered service, were classified as Category 1 deficiencies for the KC-46.

Boeing initially agreed to the Air Force’s demands in April 2020 to redesign the entire RVS and introduce RVS 2.0 at no additional cost to the government. However, a series of technical and critical design reviews and certifications for commercial camera hardware have pushed RVS 2.0 delivery beyond 2026. A service-wide revamp is expected in late 2025 and in 2027, when RVS 2.0 is finally certified and approved for delivery.

RELATED ARTICLESMORE FROM AUTHOR