Contracts · Tankers
Air Force asks who can regenerate retired KC-10 tankers for a North African partner
The work covers up to four KC-10s transferred as excess defense articles, plus ferry flights, in-country support and training. No solicitation is promised.
The Air Force is asking industry who can take up to four retired KC-10 Extender tankers, return them to service and deliver them to "a partner nation in North Africa." The request for information, posted Wednesday, lists regeneration, a one-time flight clearance, depot-level return to service, worldwide ferry delivery, in-country contractor logistics support and operational and maintenance training. Its title adds a three-to-five-year sustainment package.3
Air Force asks who can return up to four retired KC-10s to service
Work listed in an Air Force request for information posted Oct. 7, 2026, with a three-to-five-year sustainment package in its title. No dollar value or country given.
Market research only: the notice says it is not a request for proposals or a promise to issue one.
Source: SAM.gov notice FA8625-27-R-B001, posted Oct. 7, 2026; U.S. Air Force KC-10 fact sheet. Data as of Oct. 7, 2026.
The tankers move as excess defense articles, which go to partners "as is, where is," at a reduced price based on condition or as a grant.2 Under those terms the partner pays for transportation and any refurbishment, and the notice's title calls the effort a Foreign Military Sales program for the purchase of the aircraft.2–3
Much of the work is on a commercial-derivative airframe that the Air Force retired on Sept. 26, 2024. The KC-10 is a modified DC-10 that retains 88 percent systems commonality with the airliner, and it flies on three General Electric CF6-50C2 turbofans.1
The notice doesn't name the country or put a value on the work. The full request contains Controlled Unclassified Information and is restricted; companies ask for access by sending their name, company and CAGE code. Responses should include estimated costs and are due Wednesday, Oct. 28, with no small-business set-aside.3
The Oct. 28 responses feed what the notice calls "the appropriate acquisition decision for the procurement," and issuing the request doesn't restrict the government's ultimate acquisition approach.3 The buyer's name has a separate gate: the Defense Security Cooperation Agency says that before Congress is notified, an excess-articles decision is not final and potential offers can't be disclosed.2
Sources (3)
- U.S. Air Force: KC-10 Extender fact sheet www.af.mil
- Defense Security Cooperation Agency: Excess Defense Articles www.dsca.mil
- sam.gov sam.gov