Air Force contemplates unmanned tankers

NATIONAL HARBOR, Md.—With an eye on the Navy’s progress toward an unmanned aerial tanker, Air Force planners are asking questions about their own future tanker fleet.“Thinking beyond the current KC-46 buy and the program extension. Whatever that next tanker looks like—our advanced tanker system—it's got to be connected. It's got to be able to defend itself. But it begs the question: Does it need to be manned? Could it be optionally manned, or could it be autonomous,