U.S. Bringing Long Retired KC-10 Tankers Back Into Service to Support African Ally’s Aerial Refuelling Fleet

The U.S. Air Force is exploring the possibility of returning up to four retired KC-10A Extender aerial refuelling tankers to flying condition for transfer to an undisclosed partner nation in North Africa. A contracting notice published by the Air Force Life Cycle Management Center seeks information from companies capable of restoring the aircraft, obtaining flight clearance, delivering them to the recipient country and providing logistical support and training. Egypt and Morocco have emerged as plausible candidates, with the former having no tanker for its F-16 and Rafale fleets, while Morocco uses C-130 transport aircraft configured for hose-and-drogue refuelling. Both countries could benefit from the KC-10’s ability to refuel aircraft through either a flying boom or a probe-and-drogue system, allowing it to support a broader range of receivers than tankers equipped with only one method. 

The Egyptian Air Force has repeatedly demonstrated the capability of its Russian-supplied MiG-29M fighters to refuel one another in the air, while its MiG-29s have refuelled from Chinese Y-20 tankers repeatedly during exercises. The country relies on heavily downgraded variants and configurations of the U.S. F-16 and French Mirage 2000 and Rafale fighters to from the backbone of its combat fleet, all of which lack access to their most capable air-to-air missile types. The MiG-29 is the only modern fighter type in service which has not been heavily downgraded. The Royal Moroccan Air Force fields a smaller number of much more capable F-16s equipped with modern air-to-air missiles, which are scheduled to be upgraded to the F-16V ‘4+ generation’ standard, and supported by new F-16 Block 72 fighters. These newer F-16s will replace F-5 and Mirage F1 fighters in service.  The short range of the F-16, particularly when compared to fighters fielded by neighbouring Algeria such as the Su-30MKA, Su-57 and Su-34, leaves the U.S.-supplied combat jets heavily reliant on aerial refuelling support. 

The final U.S. Air Force KC-10 retired in September 2024, bringing more than four decades of service to an end as the fleet was replaced by newer KC-135 and KC-46 aircraft. Returning the KC-10 to service could nevertheless present significant technical and financial challenges. The Air Force notice seeks contractors able to perform depot-level restoration, establish one-time flight clearance, conduct ferry delivery and provide in-country contractor logistics support alongside operational and maintenance training. The condition of the retired aircraft varies, and the extent of the work required to make any particular airframe airworthy is not publicly known. Even when aircraft have been kept in storage, regenerating large, ageing military platforms can require extensive inspections, replacement of components and restoration of systems that have deteriorated or become difficult to support.