Page 65 - Leverage and Learn_Neat

Leverage Allied Investments and Combat Learning Experience in Modernizing the U.S. Military

Tanker 2.0: The A330 MRTT Evolving as a Global Fleet
2016-11-29 By Robbin Laird

The Airbus tanker is the only advanced tanker in operations and has been so for several years.

Airbus Defence and Space has sold tankers to a number of countries and has done so in what one might call
national or serial sales.

Getting the tanker sold, and out in the operational space is shaping a baseline reality.
But with significant operational experience under their belt and with the focal point of Middle East operations,
cross-cutting experiences are shaping the way ahead among the nations.

A baseline has been created from which what one might call Tanker 2.0 is emerging.

Tanker 2.0 can be understood in a couple of ways.

The first way is the coalescing of experience to shape a global fleet perspective whereby common
experiences and con-ops shape the way ahead for the development of the tanker as well as providing an
opportunity for global support.

The 330 Tanker program is not there yet, but with the experience of the nations under their belts and with the
forcing function of operating in common in the Middle East, a baseline has been created which clearly can
allow for this evolution.

In this phase of Tanker 2.0 the user groups can evolve in their importance.

There will soon be a user group meeting in Madrid. The evolution of the role of the user group was described
by one Airbus Defence and Space official as moving in the early days from a brief BY the company to the
users to the emergence of genuine interaction AMONG the users to dialogue with the company about the way
ahead for tanker modernization and ways to shape a global fleet approach.

The second way would focus on how and paths to upgrade the tanker as a combat asset in the extended
battlespace.

Because the plane carries the fuel for tanking in the wings, the internal space of the tanker, which currently is
used for passengers or cargo, can be modified in various ways to be much wider combat support asset in the
extended battlespace.

There is clearly thinking under way, notably in Australia, about how to take the tanker to this next step from
being an MRTT in terms of combining lift and tanking functions to becoming a much wider combat support
asset in terms of ISR, and C2 functions.

Page 64