Kristen Smith 
- Team targets the Air Force’s KC-135 Center Console Refresh program
- Work covers fuel system, flight displays, flight computer and autothrottle
- The program is projected to run from 2028 through 2038
SNC has assembled a team with BAE Systems, Collins Aerospace and GE Aerospace to pursue the Air Force’s KC-135 Center Console Refresh, a modernization program that aims to replace the tanker fleet’s aging fuel system, flight displays and computing architecture.
SNC announced the consortium Thursday, noting that the team offers a fully open architecture flight deck with computing and navigation, autothrottle capability and an upgraded fuel system.
“As operational demands continue to grow, tanker endurance and reliability are becoming mission critical. SNC is proud to lead a team that is tackling this essential challenge,” said TK Kubit, vice president of SNC’s survivability, strike, and command, control and communications business unit.
“By modernizing one of the Air Force’s most strategically important platforms, our team’s combined strengths will ensure the KC 135 is equipped for operational demands for decades to come,” he continued.
What Is the KC-135 Center Console Refresh Program?
The Air Force Life Cycle Management Center’s Mobility Directorate launched the initiative to resolve component obsolescence across the KC-135 Stratotanker fleet, targeting systems nearing end-of-life status.
The service issued a solicitation in July and accepted offers through Oct. 15. The anticipated award is a single-award indefinite-delivery, indefinite-quantity contract with a 48-month base period and six one-year options. It will utilize a cost-plus-incentive-fee arrangement for engineering and manufacturing development and a firm-fixed-price model for production and deployment. Performance is projected to run from July 2028 through June 2038.
What Does Each Company Bring to the SNC-Led Consortium?
In support of the initiative, BAE Systems will design the fuel management system as a core component of the refresh to reduce pilot workload. “Our goal for the KC-135 center console refresh is to translate the decades of technical data we have with the U.S. Air Force into a modernized cockpit experience,” said Jack Stevens, vice president and general manager of controls and avionics solutions at BAE.
Collins Aerospace, an RTX business, has supplied KC-135 avionics for more than three decades and will contribute new flight displays and computers built to an open avionics architecture. Nathan Voight, vice president of advanced flight systems at Collins Aerospace, said the approach gives crews flexibility to integrate new capabilities as demands change.
GE Aerospace brings military avionics experience across the Air Force’s tanker and airlift fleets, with its systems flying on the KC-46 and C-130. General Manager of Avionics Matt Burns said the company is bringing that same performance and reliability to the Stratotanker.
GE Aerospace also teamed with Merlin Labs in September 2025 to add Merlin’s autonomy software to GE avionics, with executives telling Breaking Defense at the time that the KC-135 refresh was their likely first target. Merlin secured a $105 million Special Operations Command contract for the integration of Merlin Pilot on the C-130J aircraft. The company also holds a separate Air Force contract to conduct operational flight testing of the system on the KC-135 platform.
