The UK has no requirement to use its future fleet of Airbus Military A400M Atlas tactical transports in a secondary tanker role, minister for defence equipment, support and technology Philip Dunne has confirmed.
"The Ministry of Defence has recently refreshed its study into requirements for air-to-air refuelling capability," Dunne said on 14 March. "This concluded that [the A330] Voyager will meet all requirements; therefore, there is no need for an air-to-air refuelling capability by the A400M Atlas.
Three aircraft from an eventual core fleet of nine Voyagers are in Royal Air Force use, under a private finance initiative deal with the AirTanker consortium. The modified A330s are being used in a passenger transport role, pending release-to-service approval for the type's air-to-air refuelling system - a milestone which AirTanker has previously described as "imminent".
flightglobal
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