KC-46A tankers for Qatar
Qatar ← 
United StatesDeal progress
Current status: Sale approved — latest milestone in 2026. Not every deal goes through every stage; a government sale approval, for example, applies only in some supplier countries.
Deal details
The deal covers KC-46A tanker aircraft for Qatar, supplied by the United States; Boeing is listed as the manufacturer. It is classed under transport, tanker and surveillance aircraft. The announced quantity is up to 4 aircraft, and the value is put at $4.5 billion.
The supplier government approved the sale in 2026. Approval is not a signed contract, and the quantity and value may change once one is concluded.
Details: Approved on 20 August 2026; Qatar’s first air-to-air refuelling capability.
What is the Boeing KC-46A Pegasus?
The KC-46A Pegasus is an aerial refuelling and transport aircraft built by Boeing and derived from the 767 airliner. Boeing won it in the US Air Force competition to replace part of the KC-135 fleet, which dates back to the 1960s. The Air Force received its first aircraft on 25 January 2019 at McConnell Air Force Base in Kansas, and by April 2025 the active force, Air National Guard and Reserve had 81 of them.
The aircraft carries about 96 tonnes of fuel and combines a fly-by-wire refuelling boom with a centreline hose and drogue and two wing pods. That allows it to refuel boom-equipped Air Force aircraft and the hose-and-drogue aircraft of the Navy, Marine Corps and allies on the same sortie, and even to refuel more than one aircraft at a time through the wing pods. The tanker can itself take on fuel in flight from another tanker, extending its time on station during long missions across oceans.
Capabilities and operation
The boom operator does not sit at the back of the aircraft as on the KC-135, but runs the operation from a station near the cockpit using cameras and screens in a remote vision system. This system ran into technical problems that held up the aircraft’s full acceptance for years, and Boeing is working on an upgraded version under an agreement with the Air Force.
The aircraft does more than refuelling: it can carry 18 463L cargo pallets or 58 passengers, and has 15 permanent crew seats, including for aeromedical evacuation crews. Maximum take-off weight is 188 tonnes, and it is powered by two Pratt & Whitney PW4062 engines. Outside the United States, Japan and Israel have chosen the aircraft to modernise their air refuelling capability.
Key specifications
| Role | Air-to-air refuelling, transport and medical evacuation |
|---|---|
| Manufacturer | Boeing |
| First delivery | 25 January 2019 |
| Engines | 2 × Pratt & Whitney PW4062 |
| Maximum take-off weight | 188,240 kg |
| Fuel capacity | 96,297 kg |
| Maximum speed | 850 km/h |
| Maximum altitude | 12,200 m |
| Load | 18 cargo pallets or 58 passengers |
