Thu, Jun 07, 2007
Pre-Contact Tests Conducted This Week
Representatives with EADS tell ANN
the company's fly-by-wire boom has logged 35 test flights, and over
100 flight hours in evaluations that confirm the capabilities of
the advanced military aerial refueling system.
The flight testing utilizes an A310 testbed aircraft equipped
with the EADS Air Refueling Boom System (ARBS), and evaluations to
date have focused on a full range of deployment
conditions.
One mission performed this week included the participation of a
military fighter, which represented a receiver aircraft for
refueling. The fighter flew in the pre-contact position behind the
boom to test tanker-to-receiver communications, along with
interrelated aerodynamic effects.
Developed in a $100 million EADS self-funded research and
development effort, the ARBS provides highly accurate, reliable
in-flight refueling – taking full advantage of modern
fly-by-wire technology. The ARBS will equip five EADS KC-30B tanker
aircraft ordered by the Royal Australian Air Force, along with
three tankers for the United Arab Emirates (UAE).
The boom system also will be incorporated on the Northrop
Grumman KC-30 Tanker, which is offered in the ongoing competition
to modernize the US Air Force’s aerial refueling fleet.
EADS states the ARBS delivers a maximum nominal fuel flow rate
of 1,200 US gallons per minute. It features an automatic load
alleviation system that provides a large refueling envelope and
enhanced controllability. The system’s all-electric design
significantly reduces traditional failure rates and subsequent down
times.
Using a 3D-vision surveillance system, the boom operator
remotely controls ARBS operations from the cockpit during
air-to-air refueling.
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