Air Force Accepts Flawed Boeing Tanker in a $44 Billion Program

The U.S. Air Force has accepted the first delivery of Boeing Co.’s long-delayed aerial refueling tanker despite flaws that remain to be fixed, the service said Thursday.

The first eight of 179 planned KC-46 aerial tankers in the $44 billion program will be accepted from now through February. That’s more than two years late -- and it may take as long as four more years to upgrade the troubled camera system used in refueling operations.

The Air Force is withholding as much as $28 million from the final payment on each aircraft as a financial hook to ensure Boeing makes ...