Upgraded KC-46 Pegasus refueling tanker that will be housed at Selfridge Air National Guard Base.
(FOX 2) - Selfridge Air National Guard Base in Macomb County was selected as the home of a new squadron of refueling tankers.
The base was selected by the U.S. Air Force, which informed Sen. Gary Peters in a phone call Thursday morning about the selection. Peters and a local delegation have been working on securing the refueling tankers for a while.
The KC-46 Pegasus is part of a new squadron of refueling jets that will replace the older KC-135 Stratotanker model, Peters told FOX 2, calling them "state-of-the-art."
"And not just replaced one to one, we currently have a squadron of eight tankers at Selfridge. The new squadron will be 12 aircraft," he said. "That also means larger number of personnel that will be working there and the important thing is this is the state-of-the-art aircraft that the Air Force intends to continue to use, perhaps for the next 50 years to refuel aircraft."
It's a big victory for Selfridge, Peters said, because it's the Air Force's first new platform to come to Michigan in decades.
The Air Force's older KC-135 Stratotanker model is a jet capable of refueling other aircraft mid-flight. The jets can hook up to Air Force, Navy, and Marine Corps units, as well as aircraft flown by allied nations. It can also be used to move patients for medical evacuations.
The newer KC-46 was selected in 2011 as the model to replace the Air Force's aging refueling planes. Peters said Michigan beat out several other states to house the squadron.
"There were two squadrons left that were not assigned and I know there were roughly 10 states aggressively competing for the two squadrons left of the KC-46 and today Sec. Kendall informed us we're getting one of those in Michigan," Peters said.
The U.S. Senator said the air national guard base's selection will boost the nearby economy, putting "Selfridge in an even more secure position now."
In May, the base said it was expanding with a new hangar to house new fighter jets after the Air Force said it would be retiring its A-10 fighter squadrons.
Candice Miller, the public works commissioner in Macomb County applauded the news, adding the base's $40 million aviation fuel farm will make refueling the planes a lot easier.
"The new refuelers and being a northern border security hub would ensure the long-term future of Selfridge," she said in a statement.
This browser does not support the Video element.
Groundbreaking on new Selfridge hangar for fighter jets
Construction began on a new hangar at Selfridge Air National Guard Base. It will house fighter jets at the Macomb County military facility.