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Thank you all for more great information on options for the KC-380 versus the KC-747 versus the KC-777. I've plugged more numbers into a comparative spreadsheet to see how much fuel they each could offload at, for instance, 2400 nm away (and allowing they have to fly back to the US to themselves refuel -- 4800 nm round trip). 2400 nautical miles is the range of all three or our cargo airlift aircraft -- C-17, C-5, and C-130. 2400 nautical miles is about the distance from Delaware to the Azores, and again from the Azores to Greece, and again from Greece to Afghanistan. If our freight aircraft can't refuel in the Portuguese Azores, then we need tankers to get them across the Atlantic and over the Mediterranean where, hopefully we have friends who will let them refuel.

At 2400 nm the 777 could offload about 200,000 lbs of fuel and still fly home; the A-380 could offload about the same 200,000 lbs of fuel because it gets one-third the fuel mileage in spite of its greater capacity. The 747-8 would be able to offload about 300,000 lbs of fuel and still fly home to the East Coast. For comparison, the KC-45 (A330-200) has a total fuel capacity of about 250,000 lbs and the KC-10 about 350,000 lbs.

Bottom line -- we need a few hundred 747-8 tankers.
Or we need to make darn sure we have refueling bases every 2400 nm between the US and wherever we may need to send a few hundred cargo aircraft with troops and equipment which need to be on the ground with a few days instead of a few weeks (by sea).