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EmailEADS KC-45 again demos readiness for USAF operations
- The two A330 MRTTs that completed the tanker-to-tanker refueling operations are in certification flights for Australia
click to enlargeThe KC-45 is the configuration of the Airbus Military A330 MRTT being offered to the U.S. Air Force, and is the only tanker in the Air Force competition that is flying and refueling today. The KC-45 will be built by 48,000 Americans nationwide, and if selected will be complemented by production of civilian freighter aircraft in Mobile, Alabama.
The two A330 MRTTs that completed the tanker-to-tanker refueling operations are in certification flights for Australia, one of four American allies that have selected the A330 MRTT over Boeing 767 tankers. The A330 MRTT has also successfully refueled F-16 and F/A-18 fighters, and the large, aerodynamically complex E-3 AWACS.
"The 'buddy' refueling missions underscore the KC-45's ability to conduct large fuel onloads and offloads, and reconfirm it as the only tanker in the U.S. Air Force competition that meets the warfighter's needs and is flying today," said EADS North America Chairman Ralph D. Crosby, Jr. "With the KC-45, America's warfighters have a mature, mission-ready answer for their critical refueling requirements."
During the buddy refueling missions, one MRTT passed fuel from its advanced Aerial Refueling Boom System (ARBS) through the other aircraft's Universal Aerial Refueling Receptacle Slipway Installation (UARRSI), mounted above and behind the cockpit. Both systems are identical to those offered on the KC-45 and meet U.S. Air Force performance requirements for its KC-X tanker fleet modernization program.
The KC-45 configuration also features the all-digital Cobham 900-series hose & drogue refueling pods, which have also performed numerous successful refueling operations with the A330 MRTT and probe-equipped receiver aircraft. The A330 MRTT offers the most advanced aerial refueling systems flying in the world today.
A total of 28 A330 MRTTs have been ordered to date, with the United Kingdom, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates joining Australia on the customer list. Aircraft are now in tanker conversion, flight test or final certification for all four of these international customers - underscoring the tanker program's maturity and sustained production pace.
EADS North America will build and modify the KC-45, along with A330 commercial freighters, at a new aerospace center of excellence to be constructed in Mobile, Alabama. The addition of freighter manufacturing could increase total aircraft production significantly, with an associated increase in American jobs. The KC-45 and A330 freighter will support a U.S. supplier team of more than 200 companies across America.
Source : European Aeronautic Defence and Space Company EADS N.V. (Paris: EAD.PA)
