Page 48 - Williams Foundation Integrated Force Design Seminar

Designing the Integrated Force: How to Define and Meet the Challenge?

Fernando Alonso, Head of Military Aircraft at Airbus Defence and Space said: “The KC-30A offers tremendous
combat potential at the heart of the integrated Air Force of the Future, including using the platform as a
Communication Node, to maximise air power delivery.”

Air Marshal Leo Davies, Chief of Air Force, RAAF, highlighted the value of ongoing defence and industry
collaboration.

“We are delighted to contribute to the research and development of A3R with Airbus to automate the process for
boom refuelling without the need for control by our on-board air refuelling operator”, said Air Marshal Davies.

The Royal Australian Air Force and Airbus have successfully performed proximity trials, with physical contacts
planned for the near future.

The interview started with Group Captain Williams providing an update since our last meeting at Amberley in
August 2016.

“We have been performing very well with our KC-30As globally. In the Middle East, using only one tanker on
rotation, we just passed our 75 million pound level in delivery of fuel to the combat force in that operational
th
area.

“What does it mean? It means that we've got some significant experience with this airplane now.”
He added that the clearance process has continued with the F-16s have been added to the planes which KC-
30A has been cleared to support.

“When US F-16s were in the theater we tanked them. We have a thriving boom business in the area.”

He added that the experience with the F-16s is a good way to get ready for their support to F-35s. They
are tanking Japanese based USAF F-16s as well and are getting ready to do so for the Singapore Air Force
as well.”

As the KC-30A goes through a steady stream of certifications, the USAF personnel involved in certification at
Edwards have now gotten used to how best to certify the software boom system used by the KC-30A.

This meant that the recent B-1 certification program happened quite rapidly as the familiarity with the KC-
30A has increased within the USAF.

“We conducted a short certification campaign of 12 flights to get the job done.”

The Aussies are participating in the Coalition Air Refueling Initiative (CARI) as well. This is a USAF-run program
of standardization of tanker operations. And because the KC-30A is part of a global fleet of Airbus
330MRTT tankers, Aussie certifications are also certifications for other nation’s 330MRTT tankers as well.
This standardization process for tanking is crucial to shape a global coalition capability to support allied
tankers worldwide, notably as the combat air force is designed to move to needs rather than to simply be
based always at the point of need.

Working with the KC-30A was a first for the USAF for they had not worked with a software driven boom
before.

“They went through a lot of test points and a lot of analysis to understand both how the KC-30 worked and
how the software boom interacted with the receiver behind it.”

Second Line of Defense

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