BRUSSELS (Reuters) – Belgium will invest 258 million euros ($305.8 million) in a air-to-air refueling plane to expand European defense capacity, the Belgium ministry of defense said on Friday.

The investment will increase the number of European tanker planes to eight from seven and is part of a 2012 project to improve Europe’s capacity in this regard.

The project had chosen the Airbus A330-MRTT plane, which apart from refueling different kinds of fighter aircraft, such as the F-35 and Eurofighter models, can also be used for transporting goods and passengers.

Reuters