Page 63 - Leverage and Learn

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

From Oct. 25 – Nov. 9 the coalition team executed seven sorties totaling 27.4 flight test hours, encompassing
185 contacts and offloading a total of 275,150 pounds of fuel. The testing was completed two weeks ahead of
schedule.

“CARI is significant because it fosters international cooperation by leveraging the combined assets of our coalition
partners,” said John Slye, director of engineering for the Tanker Directorate.

“This is not just a U.S. Air Force mission, but a global mission because of the reliance on aerial refueling as a
force extender, force enabler, and force multiplier.

“The results of CARI offer a significant return on investment; providing aircraft refueling services and increasing
tanker availability while improving the interoperability of the United States and its coalition partners.”

http://www.wpafb.af.mil/News/Article-Display/Article/1021512/coalition-aerial-refueling-initiative-
successful/

Tanker 2.0: Adding the Robotic Boom
2017-05-09 During an interview at the Amberley Air Base last April with Air Commodore Lennon and the
86th Wing Commander, Group Captain Adam Williams, we discussed the evolution of the KC-30A into
Tanker 2.0.

One aspect of that evolution was the coming of the robotic boom.
According to Air Commodore Lennon: “The best way to think about the new boom capability is that it is an
automatic boom similar to how autopilot works in the cockpit. The automatic pilot simplifies the pilot load, but
the pilot is still there and can override the autopilot in case of need.

“There will always be an operator monitoring what’s going on with the boom, deciding what the boom should
do, and when it should do it, but now he can let the boom do all the work of positioning and marrying up with
the receiver.”

The KC-30A is a refuelable aircraft so with a fatigue reducing automatic boom, the crew can stay airborne
for longer to generate additional operational impact and enhanced sortie generation effects.

Air Commodore Lennon saw other potential impacts on operations as well from having an automatic boom.

“If it can anticipate and react to movements of the receiver aircraft faster than the boom operator can, then
you end up with faster contacts.

You also potentially end up with more consistent contacts when the turbulence level increases, in cloud or when
night falls.”

A press release from Airbus Military on May 9, 2017 focused on a recent successful test of this new
capability.

Madrid, 9 May 2017 - Airbus Defence and Space has successfully demonstrated automatic air-to-air refuelling
(AAR) contacts with a fighter aircraft from a tanker’s refuelling boom – the first time in the world that this has
been done.
Airbus’ A310 MRTT company development aircraft performed six automatic contacts with a F-16 of the
Portuguese Air Force in a demonstration of a technique which the company believes holds great promise for
enhancing in-service AAR operations.

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