KC-10 Extender
         Brief:  A modified McDonnell Douglas DC-b which combines in
 a single aircraft the operations of aerial refueling and long-range
 cargo transport.
         Function: Aerial refueling/transport.
         Operator: AMC, AFRC.
         First Flight: April 1980.
         Delivered: March 1981-April 1990.
         lOC: August 1982.
         Production:     60.
         Inventory:      59.
         Ceiling: 42,000 ft.
         Unit Location: McGuire AFB, N.J., Travis AFB, Calif.
         Contractor: McDonnell Douglas (now Boeing).
         Power Plant: three General Electric CF6-50C2 turbofans; each
 52,500 lb thrust.
         Accommodation: crew of four; additional seating possible for
 up to 75 persons; max 27 pallets; max cargo payload 169,409 lb.
         Dimensions: span 165 ft 4.5 in, length 181 ft 7 in,
 height 58 ft 1 in.
         Weight: gross 590,000 lb.
         Performance: cruising speed Mach 0.825, range with max
 cargo 4,370 miles.
         COMMENTARY
         The KC-10 combines the tasks of tanker and cargo aircraft
 in a single unit, enabling it to support worldwide fighter deploy-
 ments, strategic airlift, strategic reconnaissance, and conventional
 operations. It played a key role in deployment for the Persian Gulf
 War and in later humanitarian and UN peacekeeping missions.
         The KC-10 can be air refueled by a KC-135 or another KC-10,
 increasing its range and dispensing with the need for forward bases,
 leaving vital fuel supplies in the theater of operations untouched.
         KC-1OA is a DC-10 Series 3OCF, modified to include fuselage
 fuel cells, a boom operator's station with serial refueling boom and
 integral hose reel/drogue unit, a receiver refueling receptacle, and
 military avionics. Later modification included wing-mounted air
 refueling pods to increase capability.
         Because it has both types of tanker refueling equipment
 installed, the KC-1OA can service USAF, USN, USMC, and Allied air-
 craft on the same mission. Special lighting permits night operations.
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