The NATO Support and Procurement Agency (NSPA) has bought another Airbus A330 Multi-Role Tanker Transport (MRTT), bringing the Multinational MRTT Fleet (MMF) to ten planes.
This news follows Belgium’s intention to boost its participation in the program by 1,100 flying hours each year. The Multinational Multi Purpose Tanker Transport Fleet (MMF) provides strategic transport, air-to-air refueling, and medical evacuation capabilities to its six member countries: Belgium, the Czech Republic, Germany, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, and Norway. Several countries signed a Memorandum of Understanding, which allows them to split costs proportionally based on their national commitment of flight hours each year.
“Since the first aircraft arrived in 2020, and especially since the start of the crisis in Ukraine, the MMF has been preserving European sovereignty and demonstrating its capabilities as a multirole tanker,” stated Jean Brice Dumont, Head of Military Air Systems at Airbus Defence and Space. “With this additional order, NSPA has already obtained one of four optional MRTTs sought in addition to the nine aircraft previously contracted, proving the level of client satisfaction.”
MMU now operates seven A330 MRTTs and celebrated the achievement of First Operating Capability on March 23rd. Complete operational capability is expected by the middle of 2024.
Its success is dependent on outstanding coordination among NATO, participating nations, and industry. The program also exemplifies how nations can work together, pooling and sharing resources to get continued access to cutting-edge skills.
Among other operations, the unit has been deployed in NATO’s Eastern Flank, for the evacuation of Afghan civilians and refugees, and for multinational exercises in the Indo-Pacific region with the German Air Force.
Two of the remaining tankers are scheduled to enter service in 2024, while this new aircraft will arrive towards the end of 2026. MMF MRTTs operate from the MMU Main Operational Base (MOB) in Eindhoven, Netherlands, and the Forward Operating Base (FOB) in Cologne, Germany (Germany).
