A 330 MRTT

Bel avion ! Elégant, même ! Impressionnant ! [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir cette image]

Réactions ?

Et bien bravo.

Le C/KC-135 sous couleurs françaises sont bons pour quelques années (....) de service.

Le temps de poser des perches sur les 30 ou 32 A400M, dont l'autorisation de programme sera votée...

et le crédit de paiement.... Vous connaissez l'histoire.

Le KC-390 : pas convaincu du tout des bonnes intentions, sinon pourquoi ne pas s'engager prestement dans ce programme ?

Les A330 MRTT; FSTA sont de fabuleuses machines. Qui plus est, réclamée par les militaires.

Mais la France peut en louer au RU...non ?

Petite photo de l'oiseau

U.K. Airbus refueling tanker achieves first flight

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The Future Strategic Tanker Aircraft for the U.K. Royal Air Force completed a nearly two-hour first flight after tanker-transport conversion Thursday from Airbus Military's facility in Getafe, Spain.
The FSTA, the United Kingdom's configuration of the Airbus Military A330 Multi Role Tanker Transport, is scheduled for first delivery in late 2011. The first A330 MRTTs for the Royal Australian Air Force also are flying, with the first two deliveries set for this fall.
"After this major conversion of the aircraft to a MRTT, it was very satisfying to find everything working so well," Chief Pilot FSTA Tim Butler said after the flight. "This first flight of a second version of the A330 MRTT confirms the handling qualities and maturity of the aircraft."
EADS North America's proposed [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien] for the U.S. Air Force's aerial refueling [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien] competition is based on the A330 MRTT.
"We now have A330 multi-role tankers in flight for two U.S. allies, with proven refueling systems that form the foundation of the KC-45 configuration," EADS North America Chairman Ralph D. Crosby, Jr., said in a news release. "In other words, the tanker we are offering to the United States Air Force isn't just a concept on paper, it is real and proving itself every day."
The U.K. tanker has encountered controversy, most recently with a Telegraph newspaper [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien] Wednesday that the planes are 8.5 years late and unnecessarily expensive thanks to a lease arrangement with the private company AirTanker, and will not be able to fly in war zones until they are retrofitted with flight-deck armor and other defenses.
To be fair, the controversy is about how the British government went about acquiring the tankers, as opposed to the plane itself.

De quoi faire rougir d'envie l'USAF...

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Alors ? On dit que les britanniques achètent tout comme les US, des beni oui oui

Je suis content pour la RAF qui s'est donné les moyens de ses missions; au service d'une nation qui ne passe pas son temps à faire la leçon à tout le monde !

Pour savoir de quoi on parle.... en terme de réservoirs.

Lutfhansa TechniK s'occupera de l'entretien des 14 A 330 FSTA de la RAF

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Airbus Military has picked Lufthansa Technik to manage component-level support for the UK's future fleet of 14 A330-200-based tanker/transports.

The maintenance, repair and overhaul specialist will deliver services in support of the Future Strategic Tanker Aircraft (FSTA) programme for an initial 10 years, starting from the first aircraft's entry into Royal Air Force service in late 2011.

Airbus Military cites LHT's "long and in-depth expertise" in supporting Lufthansa's commercial A330 fleet as having contributed to its selection for the FSTA programme. Its choice followed "a thorough evaluation of candidate companies", it adds.

LHT's responsibilities will include establishing an initial component pool at RAF Brize Norton in Oxfordshire, sustaining this and "expendables and standard aircraft hardware", plus providing component repair and overhaul services. The deal also includes an option for LHT to paint the UK's FSTA fleet.

L’Airbus A330 MRTT obtient sa certification militaire

L’Airbus A330 MRTT obtient sa certification militaire

L’A330 MRTT va enfin pouvoir être livré. L’appareil multirôle de transport et de ravitaillement a reçu sa certification militaire le 5 octobre. Elle lui a été remise par l’autorité espagnole de certification militaire INTA (Instituto Nacional de Tecnología Aerospacial). Le premier A330 MRTT rejoindra la Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) dans les prochaines semaines.

Cette certification couvre le design et les opérations de tous les systèmes militaires intégrés à la configuration civile standard, notamment les systèmes de ravitaillement - hose and drogue et ARBS (Aerial Refuelling Boom System). Elle fait suite à la certification de l’EASA, plus tôt cette année, pour la conversion de l’A330-200 de passage.

Airbus Military a indiqué que l’A330 MRTT avait cumulé plus de 280 vols. Afin de tester les systèmes de ravitaillement, près de 1 600 contacts ont été réalisés avec des appareils receveurs – notamment des F-16, F-18, E-3 AWACS – et plus de 600 avec l’A330 en tant qu’appareil receveur. Au total, 450 tonnes de carburant ont été transférées.

Deux A330 MRTT seront remis à l’armée australienne avant la fin de l’année. Ils seront opérés par le 33ème escadron basé à Amberley. Vingt-huit appareils ont été commandés par quatre Etats : l’Australie, le Royaume-Uni, les Emirats Arabes Unis et l’Arabie Saoudite.

and the next step is "Le contrat de l'USAF"...

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Même si Boeing,

• avec les dés bien pipés en sa faveur, et le protectionnisme d'un des pays les moins libéraux (en réalité), de la planète,
  

remporte le contrat (1ère tranche) des avions ravitailleurs pour l'USAF, avec son offre d'un appareil obsolète et d'une qualité, à tous points de vue, nettement inférieure, ...... cette certification va "marquer" ! ;)

UK : La praparation au FSTA (Future Strategic Tanker Aircraft) dans les délais

FSTA preparations on track

Preparations to field the UK’s Future Strategic Tanker Aircraft (FSTA) are on track, with the first two sponsored reservist pilots recruited and 11 military engineers having recently been selected to support the Royal Air Force’s fleet of modified [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien] [url=http://www.flightglobal.com/landingpage/airbus a330.html]A330-200[/url]s.
An eventual 14 of the aircraft will be based at [url=http://www.flightglobal.com/landingpage/royal air force.html]RAF[/url] Brize Norton in Oxfordshire starting from late next year, having been ordered via a roughly £10.5 billion ($16.8 billion) private finance initiative deal to run until at least 2035.
The [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien] UK-led [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien] consortium has already managed the construction of a new two-bay hangar at Brize Norton, and associated office and training school facilities are also nearing readiness. The company, which has 45 employees, will move on to the base next May, but the FSTA service will eventually have 500 staff, including 300 military personnel and 175 engineers.

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url]

We’ve got a significant amount of recruiting to carry out – civilians with the appropriate engineering qualifications who are willing and able to become sponsored reservists,” says fleet engineering director Paul Kimberley. AirTanker has also recently signed up its first sponsored reservist engineer.
An initial intake of military engineering personnel has recently been selected to support the A330. “We had a lot of interest,” he says, with nearly 800 applicants having contacted the company about the first 11 available posts. The selected candidates will start a two-year training programme in January, and then serve a tour of at least three years on the FSTA programme.
The first two of a planned 14 sponsored reservist pilots have also been recruited, with AirTanker seeking experienced A330 training captains and ex-military pilots to take on instructional roles and also support AirTanker's civilian operations.
“We are looking for people with a very specialised set of skills,” says James Scott, AirTanker’s director of flight operations. “We aim to combine civil best practice with a military ethos.”
Under current plans nine of the FSTA fleet will be dedicated for RAF operations, with the rest to be made available for third-party use. “From our perspective, we would like to see all 14 aircraft flying,” Scott says. “There’s a lot more that we could do with the fleet.”

[url=https://servimg.com/view/13515116/2590][Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir cette image]

First to arrive in October 2011 will be a two-point tanker with Cobham 905E underwing hose and drogue refuelling pods, with the delivery to mark the type’s introduction to service. Five aircraft will be in use by early 2013, nine by late 2014 and all 14 delivered by mid-2016, when full service delivery will start.
The UK’s second modified A330 was rolled out at Airbus Military’s Getafe site near Madrid on 8 October, and is expected to be flown soon. Cobham will prepare the remaining 12 at its Bournemouth airport site in Dorset, starting from next year.

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Merci, Jeannot ! ;)

Le Brésil pourrait choisir l'A 330.

Pour ravitailler quoi...?

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"After issuing a request for proposals in September, the Brazilian air force's KC-X tanker/transport procurement has taken an unexpected turn.

Despite having initially forecast the participation of at least three bidders, sources in Brasilia indicate that [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien] Military's [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien] multi-role tanker/transport might be selected before the end of the year.
Launched earlier in the decade to replace the air force's four [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien] KC-137 (707) tanker/transports, the use of which has been hampered by low availability rates over the last few years, the KC-X programme was fast-tracked early this year.
Problems with the service's sole long-range air transport assets were highlighted by its provision of only a small number of relief flights following the earthquake in Haiti early this year. Its KC-137s were then unable to take part in the 23-day Cruzex V exercise that was conducted during November.
However, it was the type's role as a long-range presidential transport that spurred the government to seek a quick replacement.

Brazil purchased one [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien] in 2005, but this is unable to satisfy seating and range requirements for longer presidential trips.
With an immediate requirement for two tanker/transports and an option for a third, Brazil's KC-X programme calls for one aircraft to be reconfigurable for presidential transport duties.
The air force originally expected Airbus to tender a proposal based on its [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien]-based MRTT design, with Boeing and Israel Aerospace Industries - the latter teamed with Brazil's VEM - to submit offers based on modified 767s.

However, President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva has indicated that a selection will be finalised later this month."

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Remise à plus tard par le président brésilien, du choix et de l'annonce du FX-2; et annonce rapide d'un avitailleur sans TDR ? Une sorte de compensation...?

Merci, Spawn2 !

Il s'agit vraiment d'un cas de ......."Wait & See" ! ;)

Premiers contacts humides entre un A 330 FSTA britannique et un EF-18 espagnol.

Ole !

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"The UK’s first Future Strategic Tanker Aircraft (FSTA) has made its first dry contacts with a fighter, marking the end of a strong year for the modified Airbus A330 multi-role tanker transport (MRTT).

Flown from Airbus Military’s Getafe site near Madrid on 13 December, the Rolls-Royce Trent 772B-powered A330 made a series of contacts with a Spanish air force Boeing EF-18 Hornet using its Cobham 805E fuselage refuelling unit (FRU).

Airbus Military says the 2h 20min sortie and a subsequent second flight included work conducted “throughout the refuelling flight envelope”, at altitudes from 8,000-35,000ft (2,440-10,700m) and at a speed range of 180-325kt (333-600km/h)."

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“This is the first time that the FRU has been used, and means that all of the A330 MRTT’s refuelling systems have now completed contacts,” says Airbus Military.

The type’s Cobham 905E hose and drogue refuelling pods – also installed on the UK Royal Air Force’s FSTA variant – have
already been tested for launch A330 tanker operator Australia.

Flight testing for the UK is expected to progress to completing to transferring the first fuel via the FRU “in the coming days”, saysAirbus Military."

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"The UK’s AirTanker Services-managed FSTA programme received a significant boost in late October, when its Strategic Defence and Security Review confirmed plans to field the entire fleet of 14 aircraft, and to retire the RAF’s remaining Lockheed TriStars and Vickers VC10s by 2013."

Des FTSA qui pourraient intéresser la France, parait-il.

Merci, TuK !

TuK a écrit:Chute de pression d'huile sur un moteur de Boeing 767-300 Transaero

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A Transaero Airlines Boeing 767-300, flight UN-559 from Moscow Domodedovo (Russia) to Hurghada (Egypt) with 214 passengers, was enroute near Rostov (Russia), when the crew needed to shut the left hand engine down because of low oil pressure.
The airplane diverted to Rostov for a safe landing.

Il s'agit du CN 25077; LN 385; à moteurs P&W 4060

Eh, oui ! GE & P&W rivalisent l'un avec l'autre pour le Prix de la Fréquence & de la Régularité d'IFSD !

Aucune blessure ou perte humaine à déplorer ! C'est déjà très bien !

Mais, au sujet de l'Appel d'Offres des avions ravitailleurs pour l'USAF, quand on pense à l'offre Boeing articulé autour d'un airframe B767 et des moteurs de la famille / série PW2060 de P&W, et à l'offre de la plate-forme A330-200 d'EADS, avec des moteurs GE CF-6, on se gratte plus que la tête !

Un A330 ravitailleur endommagé lors d'un essai

Airbus A330 tanker damaged in refuelling mishap

Airbus Military has launched an investigation into an in-flight refuelling mishap that damaged one of the Royal Australian Air Force's delayed [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien] (MRTT).
The aircraft was being operated by Airbus Military personnel from the company's Getafe site near Madrid, Spain when the incident happened at around 17:00 local time on 19 January. Also involved was a Lockheed Martin F-16 fighter from the Portuguese air force.


"The incident resulted in the detachment and partial loss of the refuelling boom from the MRTT," the Australian Department of Defence says. The separated part fell into the sea after causing "some damage to both aircraft", which then "returned safely to their home airfields", it adds.
"Airbus Military and the relevant European military airworthiness authorities will have the lead responsibility for investigating the incident," the DoD says. Australian experts will also participate in the process.
Designed by EADS, the MRTT's advanced refuelling boom system uses fly-by-wire controls and has an extended length of 18.2m (60ft). The system is also being installed on A330 tankers on order for Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.
The mishap comes at an embarrassing time for EADS North America, which is offering the A330-based KC-45 against the Boeing 767 NewGen Tanker in the US Air Force's 179-aircraft KC-X contest. Its offer draws heavily on the MRTT configuration developed for Australia.
Airbus chief executive Tom Enders describes KC-X as "a very important business opportunity for EADS and Airbus".
Australia will receive five MRTTs under the nation's Project Air 5402 acquisition. The first two had been due to arrive in December, but Airbus Military and the DoD are still working to complete the necessary paperwork ahead of the transfer. To be designated the KC-30A in RAAF service, the type had originally been due to enter use from mid-2009.


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Pas vraiment le bon moment...

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Boeing ne répond pas à l'appel d'offres de l'Inde pour des ravaitailleurs. Airbus Oui avec l'A330MRTT

Boeing sits out Indian tanker competition

Boeing is not bidding on India's aerial refueling tankercompetition, leaving the field to Airbus Military and Ilyushin, Flightglobal reported Friday.
The reason is simple: Boeing apparently will only bid on future international tanker opportunities if it wins the U.S. Air Force's $35 billion KC-X tanker competition.
"Only upon the outcome of the KC-X competition will we be able to fully determine our ability to participate in future international competitions," Vivek Lall, vice-president, Boeing Defense, Space & Security, India, told Flightglobal.
Boeing already is building 767-based tankers for Italy and Japan. But the company only has 50 unfilled orders for 767 airliners and will surely shut down the line once those orders are filled if it doesn't win the U.S. tanker contract.
Airbus has A330 Multi-Role Tanker Transport orders from Australia, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and the United Kingdom

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Un signe ?

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Une document sur le problème de la perche et les retards du MRTT de la RAAF :

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Je le publlie ci dessous.

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