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By Bill Goldston |
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December 18, 2010 - The fuselage-mounted hose-and-drogue aerial refueling system for the EADS North America KC-45 tanker has performed its first in-flight refueling contacts, with an F/A-18 fighter aircraft.
This latest accomplishment builds on more than 1,300
aerial refueling contacts already completed with the
KC-45?s other refueling systems for the U.S. Air Force,
which include an advanced aerial refueling boom and
wing-mounted hose-and-drogue refueling pods.
Airbus Military completed a series of dry contacts on
Dec. 13 using the first A330 Multi Role Tanker Transport
(MRTT) for the U.K. Royal Air Force, one of four |
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The EADS
North America KC-45 is the U.S. Air Force configuration of the
A330 MRTT, and is the only tanker offered in the Air Force
competition that is flying and refueling on Thursday.
This
week?s dry refueling contacts confirmed the excellent stability
of the Fuselage Refueling Unit (FRU) hose and drogue in level
flight and turns throughout the aircraft?s flight envelope.
Installed in the belly of the KC-45, the digital FRU can provide
fuel to the full range of receiver aircraft that refuel via
hose-and-drogue ? including larger platforms such as
probe-equipped C-130 Hercules airlifters and the V-22 Osprey
tilt-rotor aircraft.
The FRU is
part of the KC-45?s four-point refueling system, which also
consists of two removable digital underwing hose-and-drogue
refueling pods and a fly-by-wire advanced Aerial Refueling Boom
System. Both the FRU and underwing hose and drogue refueling
pods share the same modular architecture, which greatly
facilitates training and maintenance. All four of the KC-45?s refueling systems are controlled from the Remote Aerial Refueling Operator (RARO) console, located in the cockpit. This console provides high-definition, 3D imagery with laser infrared lighting for highly accurate in-flight fuel transfers day and night ? even during the most challenging operations. |
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