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AirTanker Voyager (A330 MRTT)

In-flight refueling tanker aircraft, united kingdom | 2012, "the royal air force expects to lease some fourteen french airbus a330 mrtt tankers under the voyager kc2 and kc3 designations.".

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• Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF)

03 May 2023

Airbus a330 mrtt performs landmark air-to-air sustainable aviation refuelling mission.

One-hundred years since the first ever air-to-air refuelling of an aircraft, the British Royal Air Force (RAF) has carried out a landmark in-flight refuelling exercise with blended sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) using an Airbus Multi Role Tanker Transport (MRTT) Voyager aircraft.

On a crisp Spring morning in the Oxfordshire countryside, the RAF’s VIP Voyager – emblazoned with Union Flag tail and gold-lettered ‘United Kingdom’ livery – taxied on to the Brize Norton runway filled with 43% SAF.

On board were UK Business and Trade Minister Nusrat Ghani MP, members of the media and Airbus’ Filton-based engineer Loraine McIlree, who had led the team which successfully flew the Voyager on 100% SAF from Brize in November.

Loraine said: “Last year, we had the opportunity to push the boundaries and performed a flight test on an in-service military aircraft. I led the technical team for this project and we successfully flew an RAF Voyager A330 MRTT with 100% SAF on both engines, with no fossil fuel on board. 

“All our aircraft have been designed to operate with normal jet fuels. SAF has different properties but from our testing we are able to demonstrate how capable our aircraft are for flying with a new type of fuel.

“To clear the aircraft to fly with 100% SAF requires a thorough analysis of all parts of the aircraft impacted by fuel. All materials need to be checked for compatibility, together with the systems adjacent to the fuel tanks. It took months of work to obtain the clearance and it was a great moment to witness the Voyager fly last November with 100% SAF. The flight crew reported no difference in performance during the flight and we captured a lot of data to help us progress towards clearing SAF on our aircraft.”

April’s demonstration flight took sustainability to a new level – refuelling four Eurofighter Typhoon fighter jets with blended SAF. The exercise was timed to coincide with the start of the Farnborough Sustainable Skies World Summit, and the VIP Airbus Voyager performed a 500ft low fly-past over Farnborough before landing back at Brize Norton.

Air Vice-Marshal Paul Lloyd said: Providing increased reliability and range, the Voyager aircraft gives the RAF an enhanced capability in support of troop mobility, the movement of military assets, and supports UK air defence.

“With a payload of 43 tonnes of freight and 291 seat passenger capacity, plus an aeromedical evacuation capability, Voyager also delivers flexibility in air mobility to the UK Armed forces in support of military and humanitarian operations.”

During the two days of the Sustainable Skies World Summit, the Jet Zero Council – a partnership between industry and government with the aim of delivering at least 10% SAF in the UK fuel mix by 2030 and zero emission transatlantic flight within a generation - also met.

Defence Minister Baroness Goldie added: “ The RAF has identified that using SAF and alternative aviation fuels will be critical for the future operational capability of the RAF and wider military aviation.

“The UK's SAF programme is already one of the most comprehensive in the world and supports our vision to set the UK up to be a global leader in the development, production, and use of SAF.”

In case you missed it, read about the 100% SAF Voyager flight here .

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RAF A330MRTT: The Voyager in Action

The RAF variant of the A330MRTT is called the Voyager and was purchased through a public-pirvate partnership approach.

According to the RAF website , the Voyager and its role within the RAF is described as follows:

Voyager is the RAF’s sole air-to-air refuelling (AAR) tanker and also operates as a strategic air transport.  The aircraft is in service as the Voyager KC.Mk 2, equipped with two underwing pods for refuelling fast jets, and as the Voyager KC.Mk 3, with an additional centreline hose for use by large aircraft. 

Fuel offloaded during AAR is taken from the aircraft’s standard wing and fuselage tanks, leaving the cabin free for up to 291 personnel and the hold available for freight.  As a tanker, capabilities include the ability to operate a ‘towline’, where the Voyager orbits around a prescribed area awaiting ‘receivers’, or in a ‘trail’, where it flies with a number of fast jets, refuelling them over long ranges while taking responsibility for the formation’s fuel and navigation.

Alternatively, it can operate as a passenger aircraft in much the same way as a civilian airliner, but delivering personnel safely into theatre thanks to its defensive aids suite.  Voyager also offers considerable capacity for the movement of palletised and/or bulk freight in its lower fuselage hold.  A versatile aeromedical configuration, including the ability to carry up to 40 stretchers and three critical care patients is available, as is a modest VIP passenger fit. 

TYPE HISTORY

Airbus Industrie launched its combined A340/A330 programme on June 5, 1987.  It aimed to produce a family of closely related widebody airliners based on the four-engined, long-haul A340 and twin-engined, medium-haul A330.  The latter achieved its first flight, with General Electric engines, on November 2, 1992, with the initial Rolls-Royce Trent-powered machine following on January 31, 1994.

Typically for Airbus, the A330’s pilots interact with its fly-by-wire system via sidestick controllers rather than the yoke traditionally associated with large aircraft.  The basic A330-200 and longer A330-300 have been developed into a wide range of subvariants offering revised performance and different maximum take-off weights.

The earlier A310 widebody had found favour with several air arms as the basis for conversion into a military transport or multi-role tanker transport (MRTT), and Airbus recognised the type’s potential as a possible TriStar/VC10 replacement in the early 1990s, trialling a modified aircraft alongside RAF fast jets in 1995.  

It was subsequently expected to offer the A310 MRTT against the UK’s Future Strategic Tanker Aircraft (FSTA) requirement, announced as a likely private finance initiative (PFI) programme in 2000.  In the event, the procurement process was delayed and although Airbus did not tender, in 2004 the Ministry of Defence announced its intention to acquire a variant of the A330 MRTT.

Under a March 2008 agreement, the AirTanker consortium was selected to provide 14 aircraft under a 27-year contract.  This includes a so-called ‘Core Fleet’ of eight military serialled and one civilian-registered aircraft, supplemented by a ‘Surge Fleet’ of five civilian-registered aircraft that AirTanker uses commercially to generate additional revenue.  The surge aircraft are demodified very close to A330-200 standard and can be recalled for military use if required.

AirTanker owns, manages and maintains the aircraft and provides infrastructure,  support, training facilities and some personnel, in particular Sponsored Reserve pilots and engineers.  Named Voyager in service, the A330 MRTT began RAF operations with 10 Sqn on May 12, 2012, flying an air transport sortie from its Brize Norton home base to RAF Akrotiri, Cyprus.

Issues with the drogues, or ‘baskets’ into which receivers insert their probes during refuelling operations delayed Voyager’s debut in the tanker role, but these had been overcome by summer 2013 and the aircraft’s ability to deliver fuel to a variety of RAF and allied aircraft expanded very quickly.  Also in 2013, 101 Squadron retired the RAF’s final VC10s and began flying Voyager alongside 10 Sqn and AirTanker’s reservists.

Although it ranges worldwide, Voyager remains home-based at Brize Norton.  One aircraft is always available on the Falkland Islands, primarily in support of the Typhoon QRA jets, but also available to the Hercules.  Another of the type operates the regular airbridge to and from the Falklands and Voyager is making a major contribution to Operation Shader, offloading fuel to RAF Tornados and Typhoons, and a variety of Coalition jets, including US Marine Corps Harriers and F/A-18 Hornets.

The Voyager has provided global reach for the RAF as they have operated their Eurofighters globally.  As then RAF Lossiemouth base commander, Group Captain and now Air Commodore Paul Godfrey put it with regard to their global deployments:

“In my entire time in the Royal Air Force, I’ve not seen a global deployment as we managed at the end of last year with our deployment to Malaysia, Japan and Korea.

Throughout the period we visited the United Arab Emirates, India, Malaysia, Japan, The Republic of Korea, Brunei and back through India, UAE and Greece which is about as global a deployment as you can get.”

And flying with their Voyager is a key part of the global reach effort.

For example, in 2016, RAF Typhoons fly to South Korea to exercise with US and South Korean forces.

According to a news item on the RAF website published on November 8, 2016, between 4 and 10 November 2016, the Republic of Korea (ROK) Air Force hosted “Invincible Shield,” the first ever combined air exercise with the US and the UK.

Four Eurofighter Typhoons from Royal Air Force (RAF) No. 2 Squadron deployed to Osan Air Base in Korea after conducting exercises in Malaysia and Japan. C-17 Globemaster transport aircraft, Voyager tanker aircraft, and around 200 RAF personnel will also participate.

And the Voyager carried personnel inside the aircraft and refueled during the deployment from its wings to provide both a lift and tanking capability during the flight to the mission.

Clearly, the Voyager and the A330MRTT are now part of the global allied tanking efforts.

For example, this May, RAF Mildenhall hosted the 5th annual European Tanker Symposium where Voyager was a key participant.

The symposium, held every year since 2012, allows NATO allies to share their experiences, discuss mixed tanker formation standards, and build on tanker integration.

The week-long event included mixed formation academics, discussions and flights in a KC-135 Stratotanker and a Royal Air Force Voyager. Ultimately, the event was to establish and initialize best practices when flying in a multinational formation, and the goal was once again achieved.

“This is one of the first times that we’ve gotten together as European partners to specifically concentrate on these tactics, techniques and procedures on how we operate together,” said Lt. Col. Timothy Mach, 100th Operations Group deputy commander. “Being able to fly on the airplanes, we can all get an idea of the countries that don’t normally do formation flying together, and we can start building those procedures.”

Flying in a multinational tanker formation is something the ETS is trying to safely create. During the days leading to the formation flight, aircrew shared differences in the terminology and procedures they each use.

“I think the procedures have remained largely the same,” said RAF Flt. Lt. Elizabeth Herbert, RAF Voyager captain. “It’s the fundamental basics that are important — remaining a safe distance from each other when you meet up, and ensuring that you can remain in a close formation. It doesn’t really matter what large aircraft you have in that scenario; providing we maintain these techniques, the type of large aircraft – whether currently or in the future – doesn’t matter.” 

The featured photo shows the Voyager bringing the first four F-35s home to Britain from the United States.

The first of Britain’s next-generation fighter jets are set to arrive home tonight, two months ahead of schedule, in a major milestone for the Royal Air Force and Royal Navy.

The F-35s took off from Marine Corps Air Station Beaufort and were flown by British pilots of the newly-reformed 617 Squadron, which was immortalised by the famous Dambusters’ raid during World War II.

RAF surges reserve Voyagers into service as operational demands grow

For the first time, the Royal Air Force (RAF) has surged two reserve Airbus A330-243 Voyager KC2/KC3 Multi-Role Tanker Transports (MRTTs) – operated by the AirTanker consortium – into active service to cater for growing operational demands over Eastern Europe.

The recently enacted move will temporarily increase the RAF’s eight-strong fleet of Voyager KC2/KC3 MRTTs to ten operational air-to-air refuelling (AAR)-capable aircraft, allowing the air arm to provide increased support to the NATO alliance, which is actively bolstering the security of its eastern flank following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. The two aircraft that have been added to the RAF’s core fleet were already fitted for AAR operations and did not require any modifications before starting military operations from RAF Brize Norton in Oxfordshire.

Confirming the move to Key.Aero , an RAF spokesperson said: “Two AAR-capable aircraft have been temporarily added to the core fleet from AirTanker’s surge fleet, alongside members of the Sponsored Reserve aircrew, who are now flying as part of No 10 and 101 Squadrons… This is the first time the RAF has made use of contractual clauses that increase the number of Voyager aircraft available for operations.”

In March 2008, the UK Ministry of Defence (MOD) announced it had selected the AirTanker consortium to provide 14 A330-243MRTTs to the RAF under a 27-year leasing contract, allowing the air arm to withdraw its ageing VC10 and TriStar tanker fleets from operational service.

This agreement included a so-called ‘core fleet’ – comprising eight military registered, AAR-capable aircraft (operated by the RAF) and a civil-registered example configured for passenger flights (employed by AirTanker) – which is supplemented by a ‘surge fleet’ of five civil-registered, AAR-capable A330-243s that are operated by the consortium to generate additional commercial revenue. These aircraft are held in reserve and can be called up to support military operations, when required.

Since Russia invaded Ukraine on February 24, the RAF’s Voyager KC2/KC3 force has been busy supporting NATO operations over Eastern Europe, such as providing fuel to alliance fighters carrying out combat air patrols (CAPs) and ferrying troops and equipment to the region to bolster defences on the ground. Alongside this, the Voyager force has to maintain its other operational commitments, such as supporting the domestic Quick Reaction Alert (QRA) mission and RAF-operated Typhoon FGR4s that are deployed to support Operation Shader – the UK’s contribution to the collective fight against so-called Islamic State in Syria and Iraq.

• United Kingdom (UK)
• Airbus A330 MRTT
• Royal Air Force (RAF)
• Multi-Role Tanker Transport

Originally published in Key.Aero

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Massive Airbus KC2 Voyager seen in the skies over Gloucestershire

The aircraft flew over the county after coming from RAF Brize Norton

• 10:34, 20 MAY 2020

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A massive Airbus KC2 Voyager has been seen in the skies over Gloucestershire today, flying from RAF Brize Norton.

The incredible aircraft, with a wingspan of 60metres and a top speed of 880km/h, flew over the county early today.

It took off from the RAF base before heading just north of Cirencester, and over the A40 between Gloucester and Cheltenham , before passing Tewkesbury.

The Coronavirus crisis has grounded many civilian planes but several military aircraft have been spotted in the skies over Gloucestershire in recent weeks.

What does the Voyager do?

The RAF explains there are three main roles for the Voyager, which is its sole air-to-air refuelling (AAR) tanker and also operates as a strategic air transport.

Firstly that of a refueller. It has the capacity to travel with over 111 tonnes of fuel, which is good for the highest capacity tanker in the world. An awe-inspiring 50,000 kg of fuel can be off-loaded to a broad range of receivers during a four-hour loitering mission at over 1,000 nm from its take-off point.

The next role the Voyager undertakes is that of a transport aircraft . With a maximum payload of up to 45 tonnes, up to 300 passengers, a specialised MedEvac layout with up to 40 stretchers, 20 seats for medical staff and 100 passengers and up to 37 tonnes of cargo in the lower deck. This is finished off nicely with the ability to be converted to a VIP jet to be utilised by the likes of the UK Prime Minister.

Thirdly: There's the ability to support operational deployments. The Voyager can fly with 50 personnel and 12 tonnes of freight in one direct flight over 5,200 km, while fuelling up to four fighter aircraft such as the BAE Systems Typhoon or the Lockheed Martin F-35 Lightning.”

The RAF added it is: "very much a jack-of-all trades, and a linchpin in the RAF's air-mobility fleet.

"She brings troops home to their families from deployment, she takes aircraft, jets or its 'chicks' to where they need to operate and it does it all flawlessly."

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