Royal Air Force's new tankers take shape

A major milestone was reached today as the first set of wings for the RAF's advanced new fleet of tanker aircraft left Airbus UK's Broughton plant in North Wales. The wings were loaded onto a giant Beluga aircraft to transport them to the Toulouse-based production facility where the new tanker aircraft will be assembled.

The wings are destined for the first of 14 A330-200 based tanker aircraft ordered last year under an innovative £13 billion contract with the AirTanker consortium. The Future Strategic Tanker Aircraft (FSTA) will replace the RAF's long-serving fleet of VC-10 and Tristar tankers, undertaking a range of transport and air refuelling tasks.

Witnessing the wings leaving Broughton, Minister for Defence Equipment and Support Quentin Davies said:

"Today's wing ceremony marks a significant stage in the life of the Future Strategic Air Tanker and is good news for the RAF and good news for industry and UK jobs.

Chief of the Air Staff, Air Chief Marshal Sir Glenn Torpy, said:

"Air-to-air refuelling and strategic airlift are fundamental to the UK's expeditionary capability and the Future Tanker is a crucial element of that capability. These aircraft will provide the RAF with the modern air-to-air refuelling and passenger air transport capability that is so necessary in this era of expeditionary operations."

These state-of-the-art tanker aircraft will provide an important contribution to operations, enabling the RAF to continue its essential air to air refuelling tasks, as well as providing more reliable and economical transport for our personnel, delivering them to the heart of our operations around the world."

Phil Blundell, CEO AirTanker said:

“A great day for us and represents a major deliverable for Airbus Military. It’s great to see physical evidence of the project’s rapid progression and we look forward to delivery of the first aircraft to Airbus in Madrid for conversion in June.” (First 2 a/c being converted in Madrid, remainder in UK)

Pete Scoffham, Head of Defence Capability Marketing at Airbus Military said:

“It’s become clear that we need greater versatility, with all the aircraft able to undertake AAR and AT roles simultaneously. The A330-200 platform is ideal, as its fuel capacity exceeds that of the VC-10 whilst retaining its full passenger and cargo carrying capacity”.

Pete Scoffham also pointed out that FSTA could take 4 Typhoons to Afghanistan in one hop. Capability comparisons: 75,000kg fuel VC-10, 110,000Kg A330; 41 tonnes cargo Tristar, 45 A-300; Tristar 260 pax, 290-38- A-330; VC-10 76 stretchers, A-330 120.

Wg Cdr Steve Chadwick, OC 216 Sqn said:

“The Royal Air Force is enormously excited by this milestone in a project that will offer us a significant increase in capability. We have complete confidence in our AirTanker partners and their obvious motivation and commitment to deliver the aircraft we need.”

While the basic aircraft will be assembled in Toulouse, there will be significant input into manufacture in the UK with the programme creating up to 600 jobs in the UK, as well as directly sustaining up to 3000 and indirectly a further 4500. Rolls-Royce at Derby is assembling the Trent 700 engines with technical support from its Filton plant, Airbus UK at Broughton and GKN Filton are involved in wing production, Cobham at Wimborne and Bournemouth is installing refuelling equipment and carrying out related conversion work, and Thales UK at Crawley, Raynes Park and Wells supplies simulators, defensive aids, avionics and mission planning systems.

• RAF |
• WarOnTerror |
• contract |
• delivery |
• milestone

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