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Airbus (AirTanker) A330-200 Tanker

Type
Multi-role tanker and transport aircraft (Mehrzweck-Tanker und –Transporter)

Country (Land)
France, Germany, Spain, United Kingdom

Manufacturer (Hersteller)
Airbus Industrie
1, Rond Pont Maurice Bellonte
F-31707 Blagnac
France

Phone: 0033-61933333
Fax: 0033-61933792
Internet: www.airbus.com

The A330-200 tanker version is offered to the Royal Air Force by the AirTanker consortium located at Concorde Road, off Highwood Lane, Patchway, Bristol BS34 5TQ, phone 0044-117/330-2000, fax 0044-117/330-2001, internet: www.airtanker.co.uk.

General (Allgemeine Angaben)
Crew (Besatzung): 2 plus 1 Mission System Operator for the air-to-air refuelling tasks
Passengers (Passagiere): 293 in two-class configuration (30 + 263) or 380 in single class
Freight (Fracht): 26 x LD3 containers or 8 NATO pallets (88 x 108 inch) plus 2 LD3s in cargo hold plus bulk items (19,7 cu m). Total volume 136,0 cu m.

Power plant (Antrieb): 2 x Rolls-Royce Trent 772B
Maximum thrust (Schub): 342,63 kN (71100 lbs)

Dimensions (Abmessungen)
Length (Länge): 59,00 m
Height (Höhe): 17,89 m
Fuselage cross-section (Rumpfquerschnitt): 5,64 m
Span (Spannweite): 60,30 m
Wing area (Flügelfläche): 362 sq m

Cabin length (Kabinenlänge): 45,0 m
Cabin width (Kabinenbreite): 5,28 m

Weights (Massen)
Typical operating empty weight (Einsatz-Leermasse): 120,5 tons
Max. payload (max. Nutzlast): 49 tons
Fuel (Kraftstoff): 111 tons (139090 litres)
Max. zero-fuel weight (max. Masse ohne Kraftstoff): 168 tons
Max. take-off weight (max. Startmasse): 230 tons
Max. landing weight (max. Landemasse): 180 tons

Performance (Flugleistungen)
Max operating speed: Mach 0.86
Optimum cruise speed (optimale Reisegeschwindigkeit): Mach 0.82
Service ceiling (max. Flughöhe): 12350 m
Runway length, sea level, ISA +15C (Startrollstrecke): 2650 m at max. take-off weight
Landing distance, sea level, ISA +15C (Landestrecke): 1720m (182 tons)
Range (Reichweite):
    - 7410 km (4000 NM) with 50000 kg payload
    - 11850 km (6400 NM) with full passenger load
    - 12965 km (7000 NM) with 20000 kg payload
    - 14815 km (8000 NM) with 10000 kg payload
Fuel offload capability:
    - 68000 kg at 1850 km (1000 NM) from base with 2 hours on station
    - 40000 kg at 1850 km (1000 NM) from base with 7 hours on station
Refuel envelope: altitude up to 10670 m (35000 ft), speed range 180 to 325 KIAS/Mach 0.86

Customers (Kunden)
Royal Air Force: probably 16.
The Royal Air Force is seeking a replacement for its current fleet of 19 VC10s and 6 TriStar tankers in a privately operated solution. The AirTanker offer allegedly encompassed 16 A330-200 while the competition from TTSC intended to use 19 Boeing 767-300s.

Costs (Kosten)
The RAF is seeking tanker services in a 27 year private finance contract that carries a value of 13 billion pounds.
As most of the time not all aircraft need to be available to the RAF, the winning FSTA consortium will have the opportunity to lease them out either as tankers for other air forces or as freight and passenger aircraft for airlines.

Competition (Konkurrenz)
Boeing 767-300ER Tanker

Remarks (Bemerkungen)
The A330-200 tanker version is a minimum-change derivative of the Airbus airliner. Changes include:

two Flight Refuelling FRL Mk.32B-900E hose and drogue refuelling pods under the outer wings (where the engines are placed in the four-engines A340-300). Normal flow rate is 1272 kg/min (420 US gallons)
one Flight Refuelling Mk.40 fuselage refuelling unit in the lower aft fuselage position. Normal flow rate of 1818 kg/min (600 US gallons)
changes to the fuel system
receiver aircraft surveillance system, including video monitoring
an operator station to control refuelling operations, fitted behind the two pilots. It has a primary display, keyboard and tracker ball assembly, tactical data link and DAS system
military navigation systems
encrypted communications systems

Among the performace claims of AirTanker is that one A330-200 is able to bring four Tornados from the UK (Brize Norton) to Bangor (Maine) or 3 to Trenton or 2 to Patuxent River (Maryland) or one to Key West (Florida).
The AirTanker consortium includes the following companies:

EADS (40 per cent)
Cobham (25 per cent)
Rolls-Royce (25 per cent)
Thales (10 per cent)

VT Aerospace is providing the management services role in a subcontractor relationship.
Concerning industrial benefits, AirTanker says that 100 per cent of the tanker conversion work will take place in Britain and that the A330 has more than 50 per cent UK content.
Apart from new-built A330, AirTanker is also looking at a mix of new and used airframes (said to be 60 per cent new and 40 per cent used).
Apart from the UK FSTA competition, EADS is trying to sell its A330 tanker to the US Air Force. A first try in 2002 was put down quickly be the Pentagon, but in the autumn of 2003, EADS has vowed to re-enter the arena if another opportunity arises. It is investing 80 million Euros in tanker technologies, including a fly-by-wire refuelling boom.

History (Geschichte)
The UK ministry of defence at first asked six consortia (British Aerospace, Brown and Root, Raytheon, Rolls-Royce, Serco Group with Spectrum Capital Ltd., FRA-Cobham with Thomson-CSF) to submit outline proposals. At that time, A310, 767 and DC-10 were considered, with both new and second-hand aircraft in the focus.
The FSTA project formally started in December 2000, when four commercial consortia (AirReach, BAE Systems, Eurotanker, Serco and Spectrum Capital) were invited for negotiations. At that point, it was expected that 30 aircraft were needed.
The AirTanker consortium was formed from the merger of AirReach and Eurotanker.
Two consortia, TTSC and AirTanker, submitted formal bids on 3 July 2001. At that time, the ministry of defence said that a preferred bidder should be selected in 2002, with service entry in 2007.
On 17 June 2002, the UK MoD announced that the discussion with industry on the tanker PFI was taking longer than expected. Therefore, the in-service date was pushed back to 2008.
In late 2002, KBR (Halliburton, Brown and Root) left the AirTanker team, as it did not see a strong enough business case for an equity investment.
Final bids for the FSTA competition were submitted on 30 April 2003.
At the Royal International Air Tattoo in July 2003, AirTanker presented its A300-200 in an overflight closely trailed by two Tornados of the German Marineflieger. Formal proximity trials with other aircraft in the refuelling position had still to be carried out.
AirTanker successfully completed an air refuelling trial of the A330-200 aircraft on 28 October 2003. This trial was flown under a commercial arrangement from the Boscombe Down airfield operated by QinetiQ. The QinetiQ AirTanker support team carried out the tests using a Tornado aircraft flown in a number of representative refuelling positions astern the A330-200 aircraft and handling qualities assessments were made astern the proposed wing and centreline refuelling stations. During a flight, lasting approximately two hours, handling qualities of the Tornado aircraft were assessed behind the A330-200 in a controlled, experimental environment. The trial was carried out in the middle of the Tornado's refuelling envelope between 15,000 and 20,000 feet and at 280 knots. Within this test envelope, the airflow astern the A330-200 was found to display minimum turbulence and the handling qualities of the Tornado were very satisfactory in all tested positions.
The UK MoD was expected to choose the winner of its FSTA (Future Strategic Tanker Aircraft) competition late in 2003, but in early December it was announced in Parliament that this would slip to the New Year.
First rumours of an AirTanker win began to circulate in early January, when Alan Cook, chief executive of Cobham, hinted that the choice had been made for the A330-200.
Airbus chief executive Noel Forgeard for the first time disclosed that the AirTanker offer was for ten new and six second-hand aircraft during his New Year meet with the Press in Paris on 15 January.
On 26 January 2004, the UK Secretary of Stafe for Defence, Geoffrey Hoon, announced in Parliament the start of exclusive negotiations to make the Airbus A330-200 its Future Strategic Tanker Aircraft (FSTA). Hoon said that the AirTanker bid “has been judged to offer the best prospective value for money PFI solution”, but that “a number of important issues remain to be resolved”. A final contract is expected to be awarded later in 2004, but Hoon warned that “a number of detailed issues remain to be resolved and we look to AirTanker to work with us over the coming months to resolve the outstanding issues. A final decision on whether or not to proceed with a PFI contract will not be taken until these negotiations have been satisfactorily concluded.”
The conversion of A330s to tankers will take place at Cobham Composites Ltd. First deliveries would be in 2008, with the transition to the new fleet complete by 2012. Main operating base will be Brize Norton. The contract will run to 2031.

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Last updated 26 January 2004

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