Country of origin:

International

Description:

Long/medium range military multi-role tanker / transport

Power Plant:

Two 67,500 lbst Rolls Royce Trent 772B turbofans

Specifications:

History:

The Airbus A330-200MRTT was selected by the Australian Government for the RAAF ahead of the rival Boeing KC-767 to fulfil Project Air 5402 in April 2004 after a Request for Tender was released in June 2003 for both acquisition and Through Life Support contracts. The schedule of five aircraft to replace the Boeing 707s then in service was said to have a significant strategic air-lift capacity when not engaged in aerial refuelling tasks, including the ability to carry 293 passengers and a significant amount of cargo. The contract was signed with EADS CASA in December 2004 and a further contract was signed in March 2005 for self-protection systems for the aircraft, the unit to operate the aircraft, No 33 Squadron, being relocated from Richmond, NSW to Amberley, QLD.

The A330-200MRTT, or KC-30A, was a substantially modified military derivative of the A330-200 airliner, 20 of which have been operated by Qantas. A contract was signed with Qantas Airways Ltd in February 2007 to provide service to the aircraft.

The first KC-30A was rolled out of the modification facility at Getafe near Madrid in Spain in June 2007 and shown at the Paris Air Show in support of EADS’ US Air Force KC-X tanker program bid. The conversion process involved the modification of approximately 2,000 structural parts, 5,500 system parts requiring nearly 22,000 components to be delivered to the conversion centre, and the installation of some 400 new wiring harnesses. Phase 1 testing was completed in February 2008 and in that time the test Airbus A310 had logged 202 hours over 63 flights. In June 2008 the first ‘green’ aircraft arrived in Brisbane, QLD for further work by Qantas.

The flight test program of the prototype Australian conversion of an airbus A330-200 into KC-30A MRTT (Multi Role Tanker Transport) commenced in late 2009, the aircraft after test flights in Queensland being flown to Spain where it joined the first KC-30A tanker in the Airbus Military certification and Australian Air Force approval program. Four aircraft were converted to tanker configuration by Qantas at Brisbane airport, the aircraft being flown to Australia for conversion after completion by Airbus at Toulouse in southern France, the fifth being converted in Spain. First test flight in Australia was made on 15 October 2009. The aircraft was in yellow factory finish at that time.  On 18 January 2011 one aircraft lost most of its EADS-designed Advanced Refuelling Boom System while conducting refuelling currency training with Portuguese Air Force General Dynamics F-16s.

The tankers have been attached to No 33 Squadron based at Amberley and have been fitted with DIRCM (Northrop Grumman Directional Infrared Counter Measures) equipment. All five aircraft have an Aerial Refuelling Boom System and two Cobham under-wing refuelling pods and, when required, are capable of operating as strategic airlift aircraft.

The five aircraft were: A39-001 (c/n 747 – ex F-WWYI, EC-330) which made its first flight on 30 March 2006; first post conversion flight on 15 June 2007; delivered in late 2011. A39-002 (c/n 951 – ex F-WWYR, EC-333) which made its first flight on 14 April 2008 and completed the first MRTT flight in RAAF service on 16 September 2011. A39-003 (c/n 969 – ex F-WWYQ, EC-334) which made its first flight on 24 October 2008 and its first post conversion flight on 12 October 2010. A39-004 (c/n 1036 – ex F-WWKZ, EC-336) which made its first flight on 10 July 2008 and first post conversion flight on 20 August 2011. A39-005 (c/n 1183 (ex F-WWKS, EC-336) [both A39-004 and A39-005 carried the same Spanish registration] which made its first flight on 22 November 2010 and arrived in Brisbane on 26 May 2011. Full operational capability for Air Logistic Services, and pod and boom air-to-air refuelling with the RAAF, was expected to occur in late 2013.

In September 2014 a number of RAAF Super Hornets and a KC-30A (A39-002) flew to Al Minhad Air Base near Dubai in the United Arab Emirates to join western forces fighting against ISIS forces in Iraq. On 3 October 2014 the KC-30A was involved in air-to-air refuelling of French Armee de l’Air Rafale F-1 fighters and was also involved in refuelling the Australian Super Hornets during bombing missions over Iraq. Subsequently, as a contingency, the KC-30A was cleared to transfer fuel to US Navy and Marine McDonnell Douglas FA-18A Hornets and Boeing EA-18G Growlers, Northrop Grumman EA-6B Prowlers and McDonnell Douglas AV-8B Harriers, and RAF Panavia Tornados and Eurofighter Typhoons. By early November 2014 the KC-30A had flown 33 sorties and passed 1.134 million kilograms of fuel to Super Hornets, Harriers and Rafales. In late 2014 France placed an order for 12 examples of the KC-30A, becoming the sixth nation to order the type, with deliveries to commence from 2018.

In July 2015 the Australian Government announced it was obtaining two Model A330-200s as part of an upgrade to the Williamtown RAAF base, NSW, stating the two aircraft would be converted to KC-30A airborne refuelling configuration by Airbus Defence & Space at Getafe near Madrid, Spain, and would be delivered to the RAAF in 2018. This would bring the fleet of the type for the Air Force to a total of seven aircraft, serials A39-006 and A39-007 being allotted.  These aircraft were VH-EBH (c/n 892 – ex F-WWYT, EC-339) and VH-EBI (c/n 898 – ex F-WWKM, EC-334).  They were previously owned by CIT Aerospace and leased to Qantas, the airline operating them from 2007.  VH-EBH ceased operating Qantas services in May 2015 and VH-EBI ceased operations in November 2015, both being converted, the first A39-006 being painted at Manching in Bavaria in March 2017 before being delivered.

On 25 September 2015 an RAAF KC-30A (A39-001) in the United States made contact with an F-35A development aircraft (c/n AF-4), making in all a total of 59 contacts, five of which involved wet transfers of 19,051 kg (42,000 lb) of fuel.

In the 2016 Defence White Paper released on 25 February the Australian Government stated two more KC-30A / A330-200MRTT aircraft would be obtained in addition to the two ex-Qantas A330-200s already to be converted, making a total of nine aircraft to be operated by the RAAF in the future.

At one stage during its development the KC-30A became known in Government circles as “a Project of Concern” but after some time in service it became known as “The Tanker of Choice” and as a “Force Multiplier”. The envelope for the operation of the aircraft has been expanded and at one stage 14 General Dynamics F-16 Fighting Falcons of the USAF 14th Fighter Squadron were assisted in three flights from Japan to Darwin, NT over three days to take part in exercises. In November 2016 a KC-30A deployed to Edwards Air Force Base in the United States to commence trials with the Rockwell B-1B Lancer, and during 2017 trials commenced with the RAAF’s new Boing EA-18G Growler and later the Boeing P-8A Poseidon.

In August 2018 the Department of Defence announced the RAAF’s KC-30AMRTT tanker/transports during their deployment to the Middle East under operation OKRA had transferrd 45,000 tonnes of fuel during air-to-air refuelling operations. No 33 Squadron had maintained a single aircraft in the Persian Gulf region to support the RAAF Air Task Group and Coalition aircraft on combat operations up into Iraq and Syria.