AirTanker Voyager (A330 MRTT)

In-Flight Refueling Tanker Aircraft [ 2012 ]

The Royal Air Force expects to lease some fourteen French Airbus A330 MRTT tankers under the Voyager KC2 and KC3 designations.

Authored By: Staff Writer | Last Edited: 07/02/2020 | Content ©www.MilitaryFactory.com | The following text is exclusive to this site.

Image from the United States Department of Defense DVIDS imagery database.

GO TO SPECIFICATIONS [+]

Advertisements

The Royal Air Force had long since relied on a capable, though aging, fleet of Lockheed L-1011 TriStar and Vickers VC10 series aircraft to fulfill its inflight refueling requirement - essentially commercial passenger airliners modified for the battlefield role at hand. However, the L-1011 held roots in a 1970 design and the VC10 fared no better, originating in 1962. In 2004, the UK Ministry of Defence (MoD) authorized the procurement (under a 24-year lease agreement) of the French Airbus A330 MRTT (Multi-Role Tanker Transport), an all-modern militarized variant of the popular A330-200 passenger airliner (nearly 1,000 of the type have been built to date). The proven airframe would, of course, be properly modified for the inflight refueling role including the addition of drogue fuel dispensing underwing pods, specialized secure military-level communications equipment and defensive-minded countermeasures while doubling as a basic medium air transport with the refueling equipment removed. The initiative falls under the UK's Future Strategic Tanker Aircraft (FSTA) program.

The initial MRTT was first flown on June 15th, 2007 and introduced by Airbus Military on June 1st, 2011. The Royal Air Force's (RAF) multi-year lease is through the UK-based parent company of AirTanker Ltd, a consortium made up of defense powers EADS (European Aeronautic Defence and Space Company), Rolls-Royce, Thales, Babcock and Cobham while the actual delivery falls under the AirTanker Aircraft Supply division (headed by EADS). The deal was formally inked on March 27th, 2008 with initial deliveries of new-build A330-200 MRTT bodies occurring at the end of 2011. While in the RAF inventory, the aircraft have not yet been cleared for active refueling service as of May 2013, leaving the aging L-1011s and VC10s to remain in active status. The platform will coordinate with the advanced Eurofighter Typhoons and older Panavia Tornados as well as other platforms currently in play for the RAF.

The RAF will receive two distinct versions of the aircraft under the designations of "Voyager KC2" and "Voyager KC3". While both will be similarly equipped with a pair of Cobham 905E series underwing drogue refueling pods, the KC3 will also include the Cobham 805E series Fuselage Refueling Unit (FRU), an underfuselage drogue installation - allowing for servicing of three aircraft at once. The aircraft will retain the basic A330 MRTT form and functionality which includes the forward-set flight deck, low-mounted wings and single vertical tail fin. The underwing pods will be affixed outboard of the engine nacelles in typical fashion and feature the UK-originated Rolls-Royce Trent 772B-60 series turbofan engines promising performance of 72,000lbs thrust each. Each aircraft will carry 240,000lbs of fuel up to 40,000 feet in altitude and feature loitering times nearing two hours. Currently (2013), there are a total of 14 Voyagers on order for the RAF with seven of these in the KC2 guise and the remaining seven outfitted as KC3s. Approximately three airframes were in the RAF charge at the beginning of the 2013 and it is expected that nine airframes will make up the completed fleet, the rest held in reserve and pulled online as needed.

The AirTanker / A330 MRTT endeavor is an interesting venture, allowing military air forces to lease critical logistically-minded aircraft as needed with shared costs between other powers of the world. As such, the RAF airframes may become available to other European powers through NATO in which maintenance and operating costs should be held in check over the 24-year term. The move comes at an interesting time for Europe where the lack of viable, proven inflight refuelers has showcased a strategic deficiency during faraway deployments such as that in the French intervention over Mali - a deficiency not currently shared by the massive United States Air Force.©MilitaryFactory.com

Note: The above text is EXCLUSIVE to the site www.MilitaryFactory.com. It is the product of many hours of research and work made possible with the help of contributors, veterans, insiders, and topic specialists. If you happen upon this text anywhere else on the internet or in print, please let us know at MilitaryFactory AT gmail DOT com so that we may take appropriate action against the offender / offending site and continue to protect this original work.

Specifications

Service Year

2012

Origin

United Kingdom

Status

ACTIVE
In Limited Service.

Crew

3

Production

14
UNITS

AirTanker Ltd - UK / Airbus Military - France

(View other Aviaton-Related Manufacturers)

United Kingdom

(OPERATORS list includes past, present, and future operators when applicable)

✓ Aerial Refueling (Tanker)
Dedicated or converted airframe used to deliver fuel to awaiting allied aircraft.

Length

192.9 ft
(58.80 m)

Width/Span

197.8 ft
(60.30 m)

Height

57.1 ft
(17.40 m)

Empty Wgt

275,578 lb
(125,000 kg)

MTOW

513,677 lb
(233,000 kg)

Wgt Diff

+238,099 lb
(+108,000 kg)

(Showcased structural values pertain to the base AirTanker Voyager (A330 MRTT) production variant)

Installed: 2 x Rolls-Royce Trent 772B turbofan engines developing 72,000lbs of thrust each.

Max Speed

547 mph
(880 kph | 475 kts)

Ceiling

41,339 ft
(12,600 m | 8 mi)

Range

9,196 mi
(14,800 km | 27,410 nm)

♦ MACH Regime (Sonic)

Sub

Trans

Super

Hyper

HiHyper

ReEntry

♦

(Showcased performance specifications pertain to the base AirTanker Voyager (A330 MRTT) production variant. Performance specifications showcased above are subject to environmental factors as well as aircraft configuration. Estimates are made when Real Data not available. Compare this aircraft entry against any other in our database or View aircraft by powerplant type)

None. Refueling equipment installed along with defensive countermeasures.

Supported Types

Graphical image of an aircraft external fuel tank

(Not all ordnance types may be represented in the showcase above)

A330 MRTT - Base Series Designation under Airbus Military.

Voyager KC2 - Fitted with 2 x Cobham 905E underwing refueling pods.

Voyager KC3 - Fitted with 2 x Cobham 805E Fuselage Refueling Unit (FRU) systems as well as 2 x Cobham 905E underwing pods.

Military lapel ribbon for Operation Allied Force

Military lapel ribbon for the Arab-Israeli War

Military lapel ribbon for the Battle of Britain

Military lapel ribbon for the Battle of Midway

Military lapel ribbon for the Berlin Airlift

Military lapel ribbon for the Cuban Missile Crisis

Military lapel ribbon for pioneering aircraft

Military lapel ribbon for the Falklands War

Military lapel ribbon for the French-Indochina War

Military lapel ribbon for the Golden Age of Flight

Military lapel ribbon for the 1991 Gulf War

Military lapel ribbon for the Indo-Pak Wars

Military lapel ribbon for the Iran-Iraq War

Military lapel ribbon for the Korean War

Military lapel ribbon for the 1982 Lebanon War

Military lapel ribbon for the Malayan Emergency

Military lapel ribbon representing modern aircraft

Military lapel ribbon for the attack on Pearl Harbor

Military lapel ribbon for the Six Day War

Military lapel ribbon for the Soviet-Afghan War

Military lapel ribbon for the Spanish Civil War

Military lapel ribbon for the Suez Crisis

Military lapel ribbon for the Ukranian-Russian War

Military lapel ribbon for the Vietnam War

Military lapel ribbon for Warsaw Pact of the Cold War-era

Military lapel ribbon for the WASP (WW2)

Military lapel ribbon for the World War 1

Military lapel ribbon for the World War 2

Military lapel ribbon for the Yom Kippur War

Military lapel ribbon for experimental x-plane aircraft

Ribbon graphics not necessarily indicative of actual historical campaign ribbons. Ribbons are clickable to their respective aerial campaigns / operations / aviation periods.

Images Gallery

1 / 3

Image of the AirTanker Voyager (A330 MRTT)

Image from the United States Department of Defense DVIDS imagery database.

2 / 3

Image from the United States Department of Defense DVIDS imagery database.

3 / 3

Image copyright www.MilitaryFactory.com; No Reproduction Permitted

❮ ❯