During the Vietnam War and Arab-Israeli War, the U.S.A.F. C-141 and C-5 were forced to carry a fraction of their maximum payload on direct flights from the continental United States to Asia and Israel. The strategic airlift operations demonstrated the necessity of adequate air-refueling capability. The U.S. Department of Defense concluded that a more advanced tanker was needed. The "Advance Tanker Cargo Aircraft" program was launched in 1975, four aircraft were evaluated: the Boeing 747, the McDonnell Douglas DC-10, the Lockheed L-1011 and C-5 Galaxy. The U.S Air Force selected McDonnell Douglas's DC-10 in 1977. The design for the KC-10 involved only modifications from the DC-10-30CF design. The major changes were the addition of a boom control station in the rear of the fuselage and extra fuel tanks below the main deck. The KC-10 first flew in July 1980. The first aerial refueling occurred during testing in October 1980, with the receiver aircraft a C-5 Galaxy. The first KC-10 was delivered to the U.S.A.F. in 1981. The 60th and last was formally handed over in 1988.

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Strategic inflight-refueling tanker and transport aircraft

As an Air Mobility Command advanced tanker to provide increased global mobility for U.S. armed forces

165ft.4in.

181ft.7in.

58ft.1in.

3x General Electric CF6-50C2 turbofan engine

619mph

4

356,000lb

The Douglas Douglas KC-10A Extender is suitable to group with the following collection series.

Modern U.S. Transport aircraft

Grumman C-1A Trader

Grumman C-2A Greyhound

Martin VC-3A

Grumman C-4A Academe

Lockheed C-5 Galaxy

Beech VC-6A

DeHavilland Canada C-7A Caribou

DeHavilland Canada C-8A Buffalo

Douglas C-9 Nightingale

McDonnell-Douglas KC-10 Extender

Gulfstream VC-11A

Beech C-12 Huron

Boeing YC-14

McDonnell-Douglas YC-15

Cessna C-16 Caravan

McDonnell-Douglas C-17 GlobeMaster III

Boeing EC-18

Boeing C-19

Gulfstream C-20A

Gates Learjet C-21A

Boeing C-22B

Short C-23A Sherpa

Douglas EC-24A

Boeing VC-25A Air Force one

Fairchild C-26A

Alenia C-27A

Cessna C-28 Titan

British Aerospace C-29A

Fokker C-31A Golden Knights

Boeing C-32A

Boeing C-33 (C-5D)

Cessna UC-35A

Boeing YFC-36A (YAL-1A)

Gulfstream C-37A

Galaxy Aerospace C-38A

Boeing C-40A

CASA C-41A

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