Second Tanker To Be Delivered Later This Month
The first Airbus Military A330 MRTT new generation
tanker/transport has formally been delivered to, and accepted by
the Australian Defence Materiel Organisation (DMO) at the Royal
Australian Air Force (RAAF) base Amberley (Queensland, Australia)
on Wednesday at a ceremony attended by DMO, RAAF, Qantas and Airbus
Military representatives.
"This is a very major and long awaited milestone for the A330
MRTT program," said Airbus Military CEO Domingo Urena. "I wish to
congratulate and thank herewith all the teams - internal and
external, with special mention to our world class suppliers Cobham,
Thales and Qantas. They all have been working extremely hard to
develop, test and certify this all new multi role tanker and
transport aircraft which really is the "21st Century benchmark" in
its category. My very special thanks also go to our customers and,
above all, the Royal Australian Air Force, for having placed their
faith in our product. Their contribution was a key factor for
making the A330 MRTT what it is today. We are now very keen to see
it demonstrate its worth in real operations."
The aircraft, which had left Madrid on May 27th, was ferried to
Amberley where it arrived on Monday at 1500 local time. On its
ferry flight, the A330 MRTT was flown by Airbus Military and RAAF
crews, and transited via McCarran, NV and Hickam, HI.
The aircraft is the second converted by Qantas Defence Services
in Brisbane, which was returned to Europe for painting and
finishing. It will be joined by the second aircraft for the RAAF in
June, and two further aircraft later in the year. The fifth and
final aircraft ordered by the RAAF, which arrived in Brisbane for
conversion with Qantas Defence Services a few days ago, will be
delivered next year.
The delivery of the aircraft to the RAAF follows an extensive
development and test programme for what is the world's only
certified and flying new generation tanker/transport aircraft.
Civil Supplemental Type Certificate was obtained in March 2010, and
the military certification followed in October.
In RAAF service, the A330 MRTT will be equipped with two
underwing refuelling pods, the fly-by-wire Airbus Military Aerial
Refuelling Boom System (ARBS), and a Universal Aerial Refuelling
Receptacle Slipway Installation (UARRSI) enabling it to be
refuelled from another tanker. It is powered by two General
Electric CF6-80E engines. It is equipped with a comprehensive
defensive aids suite (DAS) and fitted with 270 passenger seats.
ANN's Daily Aero-Term (11.29.25): Waypoint
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