Air Force Refueling Aircraft - The aircraft can fly at slow speeds and low altitudes to refuel helicopters, as well as at higher speeds and altitudes to refuel fighters such as Eurofighter, F/A-18 Hornet and Rafale, as well as large aircraft including C295 and C-130 Hercules.
. It can also be equipped with a removable refueling probe to receive fuel from another A400M (buddy refueling). Jets with the non-conformal pins must have the component replaced at a depot—in most cases at the Oklahoma City Air Logistics Complex.
Air Force Refueling Aircraft
Even then, the fix doesn't require removing the entire tail and takes only a day—unless there's damage to the lugs. “We conducted a thorough analysis of viable industry options to ensure the selected E-3 replacement could meet the specific needs of the U.S. until the E-7A is fielded, we will continue to rely on the E-3 AWACS,” Hunter said.
Retired Airliner Military Workhorse
“The rapid prototyping program will integrate U.S.-based mission systems into the existing airborne platform to meet DAF requirements while simultaneously ensuring interoperability with coalition and allied partners already operating the E-7A.” The KC-767 tanker can be configured for multiple interior layouts, while retaining its tanker capability.
The aircraft allows full interoperability with European Union and Nato countries. It can carry 73,028kg of fuel, which is transferred through advanced boom system, wing air refueling pods and centreline hose drum unit. The C-135 is a militarized variant of the four-engine Boeing 707 airliner, which entered service in 1958—not the first, but undoubtedly the most influential early jet-powered airliner.
While the last Boeing 707 airliner ended operational service in Iran in 2013, the U.S. Air Force still operates over 400 C-135s and other aircraft based on the 707 adapted to a variety of utility roles which require long range and payload.
“The E-7A will be the department's principal airborne sensor for detecting, identifying, tracking, and reporting all airborne activity to Joint Force commanders,” said Andrew Hunter, assistant secretary of the Air Force for Acquisition, Technology and Logistics.
Airbus A Multi Role Tanker Transport Mrtt – T
“This contract award is a critical step in ensuring that the department continues delivering battlespace awareness and management capabilities to U.S. warfighters, allies and partners for the next several decades. The E-7A will enable greater airborne battlespace awareness through its precise, real-time air picture and will be able to control and direct individual aircraft under a wide range of environmental and operational conditions.”
That said, the Air Force deems the risk of a pin-related accident low enough that aircraft with faulty pins were authorized to fly to the maintenance depot to have them replaced. No mishaps due to these pins have been reported so far.
The A310 MRTT is a multirole tanker transport aircraft based on the Airbus A310 jet airliner. It performs the dual roles of aerial refueling and transport. The aircraft is currently operated by the German Air Force and Royal Canadian Air Force.
Something was off with a key component used to literally hold many U.S. Air Force aircraft together—and it resulted in the service grounding 207 vital aircraft according to a Time Compliance Technical Order issues in February.
Boeing Kc-A Tanker – T
The KC-46A is a next generation multirole tanker aircraft based on the Boeing 767 commercial aircraft. The KC-46A is currently in the production phase, with the first aircraft scheduled to be delivered to the US Air Force (USAF) in 2016.
In April 2016 we visited the 14th Flying Training Wing at Columbus AFB, Mississippi. Here's our report. In an era when unmanned flying is becoming a normality, the U.S. Air Force is expanding its pilot training […]
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Boeing says the E-7 provides a fully integrated, combat-proven, flexible command and control node that delivers multi-domain awareness in the most challenging operational environments. The E-7's open systems architecture and agile software design enable the aircraft's capabilities to evolve and remain ahead of future threats.
Kc-J Tanker – T
The KC-130J AR tanker leverages the tanker technologies of the combat proven C-130 Hercules. The KC-130J can carry 27,834kg (61,364lb) of fuel when fitted with external tanks. It can simultaneously refuel two aircraft at a transfer rate of 1,135.6 liters per minute.
The Extender is equipped with three main wing fuel tanks and three large fuel tanks below the cargo floor. It can refuel aircraft through an advanced aerial refueling boom or a hose and drogue centreline refueling system.
The boom operator controls the refueling mission by using a digital fly-by wire system. The E-7A will provide advanced Airborne Moving Target Indication and Battle Management, Command and Control capabilities, and advanced Multi-Role Electronically Scanned Array radar that enhances airborne battle management and enables long-range kill chains with potential peer adversaries.
The E-7 was initially developed for the Royal Australian Air Force under “Project Wedgetail” and later adopted by the Republic of Korea Air Force, Turkish Air Force and the United Kingdom's Royal Air Force. The aerial refueling boom transfers 3,407 liters of fuel per minute, while hose drum unit and wing tip air refueling pods can deliver 2,271L/min and 1,514L/min respectively.
Ilyushim Ila- Midas – T
The KC-767 is equipped with a high-tech boom operator station interfaced with camera systems. The most important are the Air Force's roughly 390 KC-135 Stratotankers, which can effectively multiply the range and endurance of all Air Force combat aircraft with in-flight refueling.
The vital tankers also frequently do double-duty as cargo aircraft. The KC-135 fleet is actually outlasting the smaller fleet of more modern KC-10 Extenders, and remaining in service longer than planned due to long-running problems affecting the Air Force's new KC-46A Pegasus tanker based on the Boeing 767 airliner.
The KC-130J aerial refueling (AR) aircraft was developed by Lockheed Martin for refueling tactical aircraft and helicopters. The aircraft can also be used for rapid ground refueling. The KC-130J fleet in service with the US Marine Corps (USMC) accumulated more than 20,000 hours of flight in Iraq.
The A310 MRTT is a two-point tanker with a standard fuel payload capacity of 42,000kg (92,594lb). The fuel is transferred by under-wing hose and drogue refueling pods mounted on the under wing pylons. Each pod can deliver up to 1,500 liters of fuel per minute.
The World’s Biggest Aerial Refuelling Aircraft
The Ilyushin Il-78 (Nato reporting name: Midas) is an aerial refueling aircraft derived from the Il-76MD military transport aircraft. The Il-78 is capable of conducting aerial refueling of three different aircraft at a time during day and night.
The Air Force identified 207 aircraft that underwent Programmed Depot Maintenance that may have received the pins. (Some reports say the grounding may apply to all aircraft of the relevant type, numbering over 400, though this may be inaccurate.) While the service is undertaking tests to figure out whether/how much those flaws degrade the pin's stability, it chose to
accelerate the pins' removal from operational aircraft so as not to risk any tails falling off at inopportune moments. Aerial refueling aircraft are strategic assets for any armed force, as airborne stations capable of prolonging the flight time of fighter jets and reconnaissance aircraft, allowing them to do their job for longer.
Airforce-technology.com lists the world's biggest and most effective refueling aircraft by fuel payload capacity. Overall, while the severity of the flaws with non-conformal pins hasn't been fully assessed, it's at least encouraging that the Air Force acted so aggressively to preempt potential problems before they manifest in more dramatic fashion.
Airbus A Mrtt – T
The E-7 is obtained by conversion from the commercial Boeing 737-700, capitalizing on the existing aircraft design, certification and modification processes which, together with a well-established supply chain, will reduce development, maintenance and logistics costs as well as the
time needed before it can be fielded. Boeing said in a press release that two variants of the E-7 will develop, but did not provide further details. Some analysts suggested two examples of the same variant will be built and not two different ones for the USAF.
The aircraft will be able to operate from short and semi-prepared airstrips. The full fly-by-wire flight control technology aboard the aircraft will ensure high performance, while reducing the work load of crew. The KC-390 is scheduled to go on maiden flight in 2014 and enter into service in 2016.
The Airbus A330-200 Multi Role Tanker Transport (MRTT) is a new generation aerial refueling aircraft based on the A330-200 passenger jet. The aircraft can hold 111t (245,000lb) of fuel in its wings and carry up to 300 personnel, or 45t of cargo.
The First E-A Is Expected To Be Fielded By With A Total Expected Order For Aircraft
It is in service with the Royal Australian Air Force, UAE Air Force, Royal Air Force and Royal Saudi Air Force. Sébastien Roblin has written on the technical, historical, and political aspects of international security and conflict for publications including 19FortyFive, The National Interest, MSNBC, Forbes.com, Inside Unmanned Systems and War is Boring.
He holds a Master's degree from Georgetown University and served with the Peace Corps in China. You can follow his articles on Twitter. According to the Omaha World-Herald, by February 19 all of the WC-135 and RC-135 surveillance jets based at Offut Airbase in Nebraska were reportedly verified not to use the suspect pins, and able to resume flight ops.
That included two Cobra Ball spy planes sent on February 20 to observe a failed test of Russia's latest silo-based nuclear missile. The Department of the Air Force is moving on with the E-7 to replace the aging E-3 Airborne Warning And Control System, awarding a not-to-exceed $1.2 billion contract to Boeing to start development activities for the E-7A Rapid Prototype.
program. The E-7 was selected in 2022 to replace the E-3, leading to the establishment of the E-7A Program Management Office and now the acquisition of the first two aircraft through the rapid prototyping acquisition pathway.
Kc- Extender – T
The KC-10 Extender is a military tanker/transport variant based on the Boeing DC-10 aircraft. It serves as both conventional aerial tanker and receiver aircraft. It can carry 160,200kg (356,000lb or 160.2 tonnes) of fuel, 75 personnel and about 76,560kg of cargo.
This is a quite unusual loadout: at least three GBU-31 bunker buster bombs. The footage below exposes something interesting. It shows a KC- 135 from the 340th Expeditionary Air Refueling Squadron, refueling F-15E Strike Eagles […]
The A400M tanker, with a fuel capacity of 50.5t (111,330lb), can be mounted with two additional cargo hold tanks of 5.7t of fuel each. The air-to-air refueling is performed through two hose and drogue under-wing refueling pods (1,500L/min flow rate) or through a centre-line fuselage refueling unit (2,250L/min).
The three video cameras installed in the aircraft enable the crew to monitor the refueling mission. Foremost, it was the workhorse keeping all of those planes refueled in the sky: the service's airliner-based KC-135 Stratotanker. It also affected RC-135 and WC-135 surveillance aircraft extensively deployed to monitor the activity and technologies of foreign militaries (particularly China, North Korea, and Russia).
Boeing Kc- Stratotanker – T
The advanced Airbus Military Aerial Refueling Boom System (ARBS) aboard the aircraft ensures the fastest fuel transfer and allows the refueling of receptacle-equipped F-16 Fighting Falcon, F-35A Lightning II, as well as the A330 MRTT itself (when fitted with
an UARRSI).
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