After completing trials and development of the Automatic Air-to-Air refueling (A3R) system in May 2021, the latest news from the Farnborough AirShow 2022, stated that the Airbus A330 MRTT (Multirole Tanker Transport) became the world's first tanker aircraft. certified for automatic air-to-air refueling operation.
From a press release received by Indomiliter.com (19/7/2022), the Airbus Defense and Space (ADS) A330 MRTT becomes the first tanker aircraft in the world to be certified for automatic daytime air-to-air (A3R) refueling operations. , having previously had a successful campaign in collaboration with the Republic of Singapore Air Force (RSAF).
The A330 MRTT certification is issued by the Spanish National Institute for Aerospace Technology (INTA), which demonstrates the aircraft's capabilities as part of the new Smart MRTT developed by Airbus. The A3R system does not require additional equipment on the receiving aircraft and is designed to reduce the workload of an air refueling operator (ARO), increase safety, and optimize air-to-air refueling (AAR) transfer rates.
“The A3R capability certification is the result of a process that began in 2018 with the first automated contact with a boom system in joint operation with the Royal Australian Air Force. Since then, we have achieved many breakthroughs in aviation thanks to the support of our customers, especially with the key participation of our partners in Southeast Asia (AU Singapore),” said Jean-Brice Dumont, Head of Military Air Systems ADS.
In the process, once the A3R system is activated by the ARO, the boom control system can become fully automated and continue to transfer fuel after contact with the receiving aircraft. During this process, ARO only monitors operations. In the event of an anomaly due to deviation of receiver stability or malfunction of the tanker, the A3R system can disconnect the boom from the receiver safely.
For receiving fighter aircraft, pilots approaching tanker aircraft receive automatic visual instructions from Pilot Director Lights (PDL). This feature allows for more efficient operation, with smoother transitions and minimizes the time the two aircraft are connected in the refueling process.
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| Air refueling control terminal on boom technique on Airbus A330 MRTT Australian Air Force |
In its release, Airbus said the evolutionary journey of the A330 MRTT did not stop here. Airbus, through its subsidiary Airbus UpNext, has launched Auto'Mate, a demonstration product that will develop, adapt, mature, integrate and evaluate technologies that enable the operation of Autonomous Assets Air-to-Air Refueling (A4R) and Autonomous Formation Flight (AF2).
Auto'Mate will focus on automating the task of the receiving aircraft, which requires a new set of technologies that are the pillars of the Auto'Mate UpNext demonstrator.
The Auto'Mate technology will be tested in flight during 2023 with a final end-to-end demonstration in mid-2024. It is planned that the Auto'Mate demonstration will use the Airbus A310 as the Tanker Refueling Flight Test Bed and the target drone DT-25 as the receiving aircraft.
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