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A330 MRTT: the latest in refueling tanker aircraft. Made by Airbus Military the A330 MRTT monopolizes 90% of the new generation tanker world market. The plane currently has four nation-clients but two other customers may soon be added to the list. Here’s why... In service since 2011 with the Australian Air Force, the A330 MRTT was designed to carry 300 troops or 45 tonnes of supplies, AND in-flight refueling of fighter jets or transport planes. But, unlike its direct competitor, the Boeing KC-767, its 111 tons of fuel are carried only in the wings. The cargo holds are used to transport pallets and other containers. The A330 MRTT is actually a modified A330-200, converted at Airbus Military in Getafe, a few kilometres south of Madrid in Spain. "We have to add a lot of pumps and systems for the installation of refueling equipment, and the plane can also be optionally equipped with an auto-protection of encoded radio transmissions system". The conversion of an A330-200 into an A330 MRTT takes about a year, because the aircraft contains a combination of technologies; in fact nothing like previous generations of tankers, such as the KC-135 where the in-flight refueling operator, positioned in the rear of the plane, activated the "boom", the rigid pole that feeds the receiver plane with kerosene. On the A330 MRTT, the operator is in the cockpit, in front of the screens, and it’s from here that he controls all the delicate operations. "It’s based on a 3D video system with which we transfer the video image in real time onto the console, and in three dimensions, and therefore, all the refueling operator has to do is just put on the very light glasses, to see these images, and in that way operate the “boom” from the console." A technology that facilitates the work of the operator and gives him extreme precision. The A330 MRTT can refuel two fighters simultaneously, or a military transport aircraft, with its “boom”, from its pods beneath the wings; the icing on the cake is that the tanker itself can be refueled. Orders for 28 of these aircraft have been received from Australia, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, and the United Kingdom. India and France should be next in line, with 18 possible aircraft.
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A330 MRTT : the latest in refueling tanker aircraft

06/05/2013

DESCRIPTION : Made by Airbus Military, the A330 MRTT monopolizes 90% of the new generation tanker world market. The plane currently has four nation-clients but two other customers may soon be added to the list. Here’s why...

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