Tanker Heritage
The KC-30 Tanker benefits from
thousands of hours of in-flight refueling missions performed
by medium and heavyweight aerial tanker aircraft in all
operational and combat conditions.
The KC-30's industry team developed
and produced the VC10, which has been a mainstay tanker
for the United Kingdom since the 1980s. Equipped with hose & drogue refueling systems, Royal Air Force VC10 aircraft
were used extensively during the Persian Gulf War, as well
as in the NATO-led Operation Allied Force in Kosovo.
Royal Air Force TriStar aircraft
- which were converted to a tanker configuration by a member
of the KC-30 industrial team - have been heavily involved
in Royal Air Force refueling operations in Afghanistan and
Iraq (with the Afghanistan missions also supporting U.S.
Navy and Marine Corps fighters). The RAF TriStars are equipped
with single-point refueling, using an underfuselage centerline
hose drum unit.
Both the jet-powered TriStar and
VC10 tankers are slated for replacement by the A330 MRTT,
which is scheduled for delivery to the Royal Air Force in
2008.
Also developed by the KC-30 industry
team is the C-160NG Transall, currently operated by the
French Air Force. This twin-turboprop tanker/transport carries
a hose drum unit in the port landing gear sponson, and is
used to refuel tactical aircraft.
