Formally Join Netherlands And Luxembourg To Operate Pooled Fleet Of NATO-Owned Tankers

Germany and Norway have officially joined the European/NATO program to acquire Airbus A330 Multi-Role Tanker Transport aircraft along with Netherlands and Luxembourg.

The two nations committed to participating in the project through the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding at NATO HQ in Brussels.

Known as the Multinational Multi-Role Tanker Transport Fleet (MMF) the program was initiated by the European Defence Agency (EDA) in 2012. Europe’s organization for the management of cooperative armament programs - OCCAR - manages the MMF acquisition phase as Contract Executing Agent on behalf of the NATO Support and Procurement Agency (NSPA). Following the acquisition phase, NSPA will be responsible for the complete life-cycle management of the fleet.

The program is funded by the four nations who will have the exclusive right to use these NATO–owned aircraft which will operate in a pooling arrangement. The aircraft will be configured for in-flight refuelling, the transport of passengers and cargo, and medical evacuation flights. The first two aircraft have already been ordered to be delivered from Airbus Defence and Space’s tanker conversion line at Getafe near Madrid in 2020. Five additional aircraft will now be ordered, and that order will include options for up to four further aircraft.

"As NATO’s Support and Procurement Agency, we are proud to be a key enabler of this critical project to help European nations meet their air transport and refuelling requirements," said NSPA GM, Peter Dohmen. "The successful cooperation in this project - bringing together all our capabilities - bodes extremely well for further future NATO / EU collaboration.”

"The MMF program has broken new ground in bringing together the combined capabilities of the EDA, NSPA and OCCAR as one team, with each organisation working within its particular sphere of expertise," said OCCAR Director, Arturo Alfonso-Meiriño. "I very much welcome that this important initiative has now attracted additional partners to join, and it still includes options for the participation of even more countries.”

"The A330 MRTT has established itself firmly as the world’s premier tanker/transport aircraft," said Airbus Defence and Space Head of Military Aircraft Fernando Alonso. "It is extremely satisfying to now see it adopted as the core asset of one of Europe’s most important cooperative defence programs. We hope that this collaborative approach will serve as a model for future joint procurements.”

(Source: Airbus Defense and Space news release. Image from file)

FMI: www.airbus.com