RAAF Wg Cdr Warren MacDonald says RAAF KC-30As have operated 1,300 hours in support of coalition forces, offloading about 3.5 million tonnes of fuel every month since September 2014.
The combat reliability of the converted airliner, which entered service in 2013, has been extremely good.
All of these refuelling missions have been conducted using the hose-and-drogue method.
Aside from the type's combat debut, 2014 also saw a strong push to bring the aircraft's boom refuelling system online. To this end, one KC-30A was dispatched to Airbus Defence & Space's facility in Seville, Spain, bringing the number of RAAF KC-30As in the country to two. The aircraft performed 160 fights, and made 300 boom contacts.
Both aircraft will return to Australia this year, and by mid-2015 the boom should be operational.
By 2023, only 36 RAAF aircraft will still use hose-and-drogue refuelling, its 24 Boeing F/A-18F Super Hornets and 12 EA-18G Growlers. The remaining 100 aircraft in its fleet, including the Lockheed Martin F-35, will require boom refuelling.
This is the reverse of the status quo, as 95 RAAF aircraft use hose-and-drogue for air-to-air refuelling, and 17 use the boom.
Moreover, the boom is essential for refuelling aircraft from allied forces, namely Singapore's F-15s and F-16s, and USAF assets. MacDonald says the RAAF will speak to Singapore later this year about clearing the KC-30A to refuel its assets.
flightglobal
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