USAF's Operation Centennial Contact, honouring 100 years of AAR

On 27 June 2023, USAF flyovers took place across all 50 US states and some unincorporated territories to honour 100 years of Air-to-Air Refueling (AAR).

While the KC-10A Extender is in the twilight of its career, more than 80 tanker aircraft and 70 receivers participated in USAF's "Operation Centennial Contact". Amongst the soon-to-be-retired McDonnell Douglas KC-10A, Boeing KC-135R/T Stratotankers and Boeing KC-46A Pegasus aircraft celebrated a century of game-changers by flying over US soil.

Five days earlier, on 22 June 2023, the 305th and 514th Air Mobility Wings at Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst (NJ) said farewell to their last operational KC-10A Extender with tail number 84-0188. The farewell ceremony commemorated the 33-year legacy of the KC-10A and marked the ending of an era for the Extender fleet for the Joint Base.

Before being flown to the 309th Aerospace Maintenance and Regeneration Group at Davis-Monthan AFB (AZ), KC-10A "40188" flew 33.475,5 flight hours supporting missions in six different continents and refueled more than 125.000 aircraft from 25 different countries. It was flown by 11.000 aircrew members, while another 12.000 maintainers worked to keep it airborne.

Speaking of Air-to-Air Refueling. The operational theme for this year's Air Tattoo at RAF Fairford (UK) (14-16 July) is SKYTANKER23. The Air Tattoo will highlight the vital role of AAR in modern military aviation while also aiming to display the history of air-to-air refuelling from the humble beginnings in 1923, evolving through the last century, to the modern aircraft which we see in service around the world today.

Credit photo: USAF / Credit radar overview: ADS-B