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US sailors conduct routine maintenance on a jet blast deflector on the flight deck of the Nimitz-class aircraft carrier USS Nimitz on July 9, 2025. (US Navy)
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An Aircraft Maintenance Squadron crew chief marshals the KC-46A Pegasus on the flight line on February 21, 2019, at McConnell Air Force Base, Wichita, Kansas. (Alexi Myrick/US Air Force)
This event will premiere on this page at 12:00 p.m. EDT, Tuesday, June 21. Register for the event here
The U.S. military’s aerial refueling enterprise is a critical component of its ability to project power globally in defense of American interests and execute more dynamic operational concepts. However, with an aging inventory of tanker aircraft, growing threats posed by the People’s Republic of China, and stiff budgetary headwinds, some question whether the U.S. Air Force can field the aerial refueling force that the nation needs.
Please join Hudson Institute Senior Fellow Timothy A. Walton for a conversation on challenges and opportunities facing U.S. aerial refueling efforts with Mark Gunzinger, Director of Future Concepts and Capability Assessments at the Mitchell Institute for Aerospace Studies, Todd Harrison, Senior Vice President and Head of Research of Meta Aerospace, and John “JV” Venable, Senior Research Fellow at The Heritage Foundation’s Center for National Defense.
This event builds on the Hudson Institute’s recent report on the subject: Resilient Aerial Refueling: Safeguarding the US Military’s Global Reach
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