AirTanker Subsidiary Signs 27 Year Contract

AirTanker, the EADS-led consortium, announced Friday it signed a 27-year contract with the UK Ministry of Defense for the provision of air transport and air refueling capability to the Royal Air Force. The AirTanker consortium has also completed its financing for the program, raising approximately 2.5 billion pounds (EUR3.2 billion) for investment in the fleet, a new state-of-the-art operational base and associated infrastructure.

The Future Strategic Tanker Aircraft (FSTA) program includes the provision of a fleet of 14 new tanker aircraft, based on the latest generation Airbus A330-200 to enter service from 2011, replacing the previous fleet of VC-10 and Tristar refueling aircraft. The contract also includes provision for all necessary infrastructure, training, maintenance, flight management, fleet management and ground services to enable the RAF to fly air-to-air refueling and transport missions worldwide. The A330 FSTA aircraft will be more than 50% British by value. Through this agreement, EADS will become the RAF's leading supplier of transport aircraft, complementing its existing commitment to supply 25 A400M aircraft to the UK forces.

"We are proud to be providing the RAF with the very best air-to-air refueling solution available internationally," said EADS CEO Louis Gallois. "The MoD's requirements are known to be highly exacting, and we are grateful that its trust has been placed in EADS and our consortium partners, Cobham, Rolls-Royce, Thales and VT Group. For our part, this win further demonstrates the A330 as the platform of choice for the world's refueling fleets and comes on the back of our recent success in the US market. This award strengthens our ongoing commitment to grow our business in the UK in the long-term."

The Military Transport Aircraft Division (MTAD) is responsible within the EADS Group for all military derivative programs based on Airbus platforms. For the FSTA program, MTAD will be responsible for the design and development of the A330 FSTA aircraft, and for delivering them on-time to AirTanker, fully certified and MoD qualified.

Carlos Suarez, Head of EADS Military Transport Aircraft Division, added: "With this comprehensive service contract, we now cover the full spectrum of customers' requirements. The A330-200 based tanker solution has now won the last five consecutive military tanker competitions internationally. This demonstrates the A330's superior capability, flexibility and economics."

As ANN reported, the KC-45A derivative of the A330-200 Multi-Role Tanker Transport (MRTT) was awarded the US Air Force's KC-X contract last month, to the considerable consternation of rival Boeing.

FMI: www.eads.com, www.raf.mod.uk/