September 26th 2024 was an emotional day at Travis Air Force Base, California, when the final KC-10A departed, marking the end of operations with the United States Air Forces (USAF). Westleigh Bushell takes a look back at the operational career of this iconic jet.

The McDonnell Douglas factory at Long Beach Daugherty Airport on July 12^th, 1980, saw the first flight of the company’s newest jet, the KC-10A. N110KC (the future 79-0433) flew a short first flight around the Los Angeles basin, and thus began the test phase for the USAF’s new wide-body aerial tanker.

An obvious need for a long-range tanker that could also carry a larger cargo than the KC-135 fleet was recognised by the Strategic Air Command (SAC) in 1967, and so the Advanced Tanker/Cargo Aircraft (ATCA) program was launched the following year. Several years passed before the competition began in 1975, McDonnell Douglas with the DC-10-30CF, Boeing with their 747 and Lockheed with the C-5A Galaxy or L-1011 Tristar. Lockheed fell short pretty quickly and withdrew because the C-5A was no longer in production and the Tristar didn’t have a freight variant available. Cost was a significant factor in the procurement process. The fact that the cost for the DC-10-30CF was 32% less than the Boeing 747, could operate with a smaller footprint and a shorter runway requirement, made it the obvious choice and in December 1977, 60 KC-10As would be purchased for the USAF. Deliveries started from 1982 with 18 airframes, they would then receive a further 8 aircraft a year until 1987 when the final 10 airframes would be handed over.

Operational Service

The KC-10A entered service as the largest Tanker in the USAF arsenal, and the USAF top brass knew they had something special, very early on, McDonnell Douglas estimated, that 10 KC-10As could deploy 144 tactical fighters from the United States to Europe in 72 hours; the Air Force confirmed this. The leap from the much smaller KC-135 was huge. The KC-10A could carry 75 passengers, 76,000kg of cargo, and in the belly tanks, it could carry twice the fuel the 135’s can, with 160,000kg of fuel. Twenty KC-10As also had wing mounted pods allowing for hose and drogue fuelling capability, this allowed the US Navy and NATO nations to use the KC-10A. The boom was designed and built by McDonnell Douglas and was known as the Advanced Aerial Refuelling Boom (AARB) with a transfer rate of up to 1500 US Gallons per minute, with this being delivered by a boom operator who sat upright, unlike operators in other tankers who lay down, and this along with the size of the aircraft, the onboard coffee maker and even a fridge along with lots of space for the crew gave the KC-10A fleet the nickname ‘GUCCI’ because they were far more luxurious than the smaller KC-135s. Another nickname the aircraft adorned was ‘Big Sexy’ because of how the aircraft looked.

‘Big Sexy’s’ first combat mission was on 5^th October 1983 during the Grenada invasion, and from there on in they were a staple on combat missions. And the KC-10A fleet really showed their worth in April 1986, when Operation El Dorado Canyon launched 24 F-111 and 5 EF-111’s from RAF Lakenheath to strike a selection of targets in Libya, with a diplomatic stance by France and Spain to not allow the jets to fly in their airspace the mission required the KC-10A and KC-135s to tank them on a 13 hr, 6400mile roundtrip flying down the Atlantic and into the Mediterranean sea via the strait of Gibraltar.

Desert Storm was a further example of the tanker fleets impeccable service and reliability, with tens of thousands of executed refuelling’s and not a single rendezvous being missed.

The type’s final combat mission was operated by 86-0033 which departed Prince Sultan Air Base in Saudi Arabia on 5^th October 2023 this marked the “last combat mission flown in 41 years of combat service and conclude 21 years of flying with the 908^th Expeditionary Air Refuelling Squadron (EARS) in the Middle East.

Originally operated under SAC command the first twenty or so were delivered in the elegant blue and white livery, their primary use was bomber support while under SAC control so the high visibility scheme wasn’t deemed to be an issue as the KC-10As wouldn’t be operating in hostile airspace in that role. As a more tactical role was developed for the Extender fleet the Shamu livery was introduced, the dark top light underside was perfect for operating closer to the action.

The early KC-10A bases were March AFB in Southern California, Barksdale AFB in Louisiana, and Seymour-Johnson AFB in North Carolina. When SAC was disestablished into the newly established Air Mobility Command (AMC) inherited the aerial refuelling fleet of KC-135s and the KC-10A fleets, this shake up in 1992, saw the Travis AFB, California gain the 60^th Airlift Wing (60AW) and the KC-10A fleet from March AFB, and a few years later in 1994 the McGuire AFB, New Jersey, based 305^th AW gained their Extenders from MacDill AFB and Barksdale AFB.

The KC-10A had an impressive service record and an impeccable in service safety record of only one hull loss in 43 years of service, 82-0190 was destroyed during maintenance at Barksdale AFB, in 1987.

The End…

The USAF began a tanker modernisation program, during January 2007 for a new tanker fleet to initially replace the earliest KC-135 frames, under the KC-X competition name, 179 new build aircraft from either Boeing, Airbus EADS or Northrop Grumman were to be selected, the selection became a political roller coaster with Boeing finally winning the order with their Boeing 767-2C, which features the fuselage of the 200 series and the wings from the 300 series. Its Air Force designation would be the KC-46A Pegasus. Although the KC-10A replacement was due to be under the KC-Y program, with the KC-46 deliveries starting the Department of Defense (DOD) saw the need to start retiring their older more expensive tankers, consequently the 2021 fiscal budget called for the first 16 KC-10As to be retired.

With the Boeing KC-46A Pegasus deliveries ramping up, it was time for the first KC-10A retirement. 13^th July 2020 saw the first Extender leave the Air Force fleet with 86-0036 from 305^th Air Mobility wing, McGuire AFB, depart to Davis-Monthan AFB, upon arrival it was handed over to the 309th Aerospace Maintenance and Regeneration Group (AMARG) the drawdown of the 58 active frames had begun, and with this a long list of “lasts” was to follow.

The last European visit by a KC-10 was over the weekend of August 17^th.  86-0031 arrived at Prestwick as GOLD41 from Al Udeid. This historical flight was met with a water cannon salute from the airport fire service. Departing on Sunday 18^th , as ROMA64 86-0031 concluded 44 years of transatlantic service.

This same jet also holds the title of the last KC-10 to be on public display, 0031 arrived at RAF Fairford to be placed on static display for the 2024 Royal International Air Tattoo.

Thankfully, three airframes have been preserved, with the prototype KC-10A 79-0433 on display at Dover AFB. 84-0185 arrived at March Field Museum 10^th August 2023, while 84-0191 arrived at the USAF Museum at Wright-Patterson AFB April 2024

The final KC-10A to depart Travis AFB was 79-1948 on 26th September, with the callsign ‘GUCCI 10’. The crew made one last pass with two Fresno Air National Guard F-15Cs on the wing. This concluded 43 years of service with the United States Air Force.

With a planned flyby at the type’s birthplace at Long Beach, this was unfortunately cancelled due to the busy Los Angeles traffic, ‘GUCCI 10’ landed at Davis-Monthan AFB, Arizona, after a 2:30hr flight.

A Second Chance?

As recently as July 2024, Air Mobility Command (AMC) are actively analysing the use of commercial tankers to supplement the Air Force fleet, with companies like Metrea now refuelling Air Force assets, and of course Omega which operates a very similar type to the KC-10A, the future certainly has a place for some trusty KC-10As. The type was much loved and was only retired due to operational costs; even in its forties, the KC-10 fleet had a mission-ready rate of 80% during fiscal year 2023. So, with a capability to carry as much cargo as a C-17, old ‘Big Sexy’ could certainly get a second wind within the civil reserve fleet if circumstances allow. 

But hey, on a positive at least they missed the ridiculous AMC no marking shenanigans!

AeroResource would like to thank Paul Thompson and Ashley Wallace for their image use.

You can find out more about the KC-10A retirement; https://www.af.mil/News/Article-Display/Article/3919933/travis-afb-bids-farewell-to-last-kc-10/.

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