First Public Appearance At Royal International Air Tattoo At
RAF Fairford
The RAF's largest ever aircraft has been officially named
"Voyager" after being flown by an RAF pilot Monday at the Royal
International Air Tattoo at RAF Fairford - its first public
appearance. Fourteen Voyager aircraft and a complete support
package are being provided to the RAF under a 27-year, $16.8
billion Private Finance Initiative contract signed with the
AirTanker consortium.
In addition to the aircraft, training, maintenance and brand new
purpose-built buildings at RAF Brize Norton, the RAF's air
transport hub, will be provided as part of the initiative.
"I am delighted to see the new Royal Air Force Voyager aircraft
formally presented to the public," said Defence Secretary, Dr Liam
Fox, who attended today's naming ceremony of the new strategic
tanker aircraft. "This magnificent aircraft is the future for the
RAF's air-to-air refuelling and passenger transport capability for
the coming decades. Voyager, together with the C-17, C-130J and the
A400M transport aircraft, will provide the RAF with a truly world
class fleet of aircraft, underpinning the global reach that is
vital to our operations."
Voyager has a colossal 197-foot wingspan and is nearly as long.
It is a dual role air-to-air tanker and transport aircraft and will
replace the long-serving VC10 and TriStar. It is a considerable
capability boost, able to carry almost 300 troops over 6,000 miles
and to air-to-air refuel other aircraft with more than 26,000
gallons of fuel - greater than two large fuel tankers.
Voyager can refuel aircraft at a rate of 1,300 gallons per
minute. By comparison, a standard filling station pump delivers
fuel at about 10 gallons per minute.
"As we have seen in Afghanistan and Libya, an effective
air-to-air refuelling and transport fleet is an essential force
multiplier in this era of expeditionary warfare," said The Chief of
the Air Staff, Air Chief Marshal Sir Stephen Dalton, who also
attended the ceremony. "Voyager ... will excel in these roles
by not only increasing our air-to-air refuelling capability, but
also by substantially improving our strategic airlift capacity.
Voyager is the airborne part of a flexible and cost effective
whole-service contract which will enable the rapid movement of
personnel around the world and provide unprecedented global reach
to our combat aircraft. We can be justifiably proud of this
magnificent addition to the RAF's fleet; it will serve our Armed
Forces well for many years to come."
Voyager is expected to enter service later this year.