New Delhi/Madrid. The Indian Air Force (IAF) has selected the Airbus Military A330 MRTT Multi Role Tanker Transport for its next generation of midair refueling tankers.
In a statement, the company announced that “detailed negotiations” will now begin for “the award of a final production contract for an envisaged six aircraft.” The aircraft had been selected earlier also, but the Indian Ministry of Finance did not accord approval as Airbus demanded an extra sum for a particular requirement that the government considered inappropriate. In the re-tender, it has won again.
India´s selection of the A330 MRTT makes it the fifth nation to commit to the type following Australia , Saudi Arabia , the United Arab Emirates , and the United Kingdom which have ordered a total of 28 aircraft.
Top IAF sources told India Strategic that the twin-engine MRTT was found to be cheaper in overall costs against its competitor, the Russian IL 78 MIDAS, and that the Airbus Military aircraft is also a much modern machine in comparison, easy to fly with a fighter-like joystick and also easy to change in configuration from a refueler to a transporter.
The officially estimated value of the project is Rs INR 8,500 crore (about US $1.55 billion at current conversion rate). Negotiations for a formal contract should begin within this financial year, that is by March 2013, and hopefully end within 2013.
Airbus Military CEO Domingo Ureña Raso said: “We are grateful for the confidence shown in our company by the Government of India and the Indian Air Force, and we appreciate the detailed and fair appraisal of the competing products which they have conducted. This has been a long and tough competition and we are honoured to have been selected. We are fully committed to the next stage of the negotiations, and ultimately to providing the IAF with what is unquestionably the most advanced tanker/transport aircraft flying and certified today.”
The tankers will operate from the Panagarh Air Base in the eastern state of West Bengal, supporting Su-30MKI fighter jets, extending their operational range well beyond the Himalayas.
The existing lot of six Russia-made tankers are based at Agra.
The acquisition of the A-330 mid-air refuellers now underlines the need to streamline the defence procurement process. For, while IAF will be buying the same aircraft which it had shortlisted in 2009, Indian tax-payers will have to pay more because of cost escalations that have occurred in the past four years. But then there was the issue of “overcharging” on some item.
The European Aeronautics Defence and Space Company (EADS) and the Ministry of Defence (MoD) will soon start “the final commercial negotiations,” sources in the Defence ministry said. It is understood that the contract will be finalised only in the next financial year (2013-2014).
Antonio Caramazana, head of Airbus Military Derivatives informed India Strategic at the Getafe air base in Madrid , ”We will be able to deliver the first refueller 36 months after signing the contract and every three months after that we can deliver a new aircraft.”
The commercial A330 airliner is converted into a military tanker at this facility. The Airbus A-330 MRTT is based on the civilian A-330 airliner, which after manufacture is converted to the military MRTT variant.
Caramazana stated that India has asked for some specific customization of the A330 MRTT which includes 291 seats, two fuel tanks to allow the aircraft to carry two different types of fuel, a Defensive Aids System consisting of a radar warning receiver, a chaff and flare dispenser system and some special avionics.
IAF has decided on the hose and drogue system of refueling and not the boom. IAF aircraft like the ‘Sukhoi, Jaguar, Mirage-2000 and now Rafale are all hose and drogue receiver aircraft.
Caramazana said that India could select either the GE or Rolls Royce engines and this decision will be taken during contract negotiations.
Ian Elliot, Head of Defence Capability Market Development at Airbus Military, stressed that the twin engine A-330 MRTT can carry 300 troops, has the fastest fuel flow range, can refuel several fighter jets in a sortie and can carry 45 tonnes of cargo.
There is a provision in A330 MRTT of being fitted with a Universal Aerial Refueling Receptacle Slipway Installation (UARRSI) which allows refueling from another tanker’s boom.
The A330 MRTT can also be used for towline missions, whereby it can be on station at about 1,000 nm/ 1,850km from its base for some 4 hours 30 minutes, with the capability to provide 50 tonnes / 110,000 lb of fuel for receivers. Or it can provide 60 tonnes / 132,000 lb of fuel while remaining on station for five hours at 500 nm / 930 km from base.
It enables, for example, four Eurofighters to fly 3,600 nm / 6,700 km by refuelling them en-route, or, when carrying 20 tonnes / 44,100 lb of payload, to deploy four fighters a distance of 2,800 nm / 5,200km. This exceeds by far what any other current tanker can offer.
It is therefore an unmatchable force multiplier, enhancing significantly the range or endurance of any fighter.
The A330 MRTT is also a strategic medical evacuation (medevac) aircraft, capable of carrying, from prepared airfields, up to 130 stretchers. In an “intensive medevac" configuration, critical care modules can be installed to replicate an intensive care unit in the air. The aircraft could typically carry 28 NATO stretchers, up to six critical care modules, 20 seats for medical staff, and 100 passenger seats.
Caramazana explained that the green A330 MRTT aircraft will be made at Toulouse in France and will be brought with a full seat configuration to Getafe in Spain, where they are converted to the military variant at one of three conversion sites over a period of one year. Then, after being stripped of all the seats and panels, 600 harnesses, the avionics bay, cockpit, FRU, introduction of 22 to 25 military antennae for communication and navigation are added. Structural, electrical and systems modifications for implementing the military avionics are made.
He said that he expected some 2,000 refuellers flying everywhere in the world in the next four to five years.
As for the MRTT, training, support and spares will be available easily and the supply chain management will not be an issue. Maintenance of the aircraft, its engines and landing gear is common with A-330 civilian aircraft, thereby making MRO easier. This will however need to be supplemented with maintenance of the onboard military equipment.
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