This summer we will do some short articles about airshows, fly-ins, events, museums, military exercises under the title Summer Special.

In November 2011, the European Defence Agency (EDA) Steering Board and European Defence Ministers endorsed air-to-air refuelling (AAR) as one of the initial Pooling and Sharing initiatives after recognising the need for a greater AAR capability as it was heavily reliant on US Air Force tankers.

The Netherlands was designated leader of the newly launched Multinational Multi-Role Tanker Transport Fleet (MMF) project, which had the aim of creating an initial European AAR capability by 2020.

Eindhoven Air Base will be the home base of 6 A330 MRTTs. The other 4 will be stationed at a forward operating base in Cologne, Germany. The last aircraft will be delivered in the summer of 2024.

Flight hours

The 10 aircraft are registered to the Netherlands, but are NATO property. They are financed by 6 participating countries that each have an annual allocation of flight hours:

• Netherlands (2,000 hours)
• Germany (5,500 hours)
• Belgium (1,000 hours)
• Luxembourg (200 hours)
• Norway (100 hours)
• Czech Republic (100 hours each)

The A330 tanker aircraft

These tanker aircraft are primarily used for the air-to-air refuelling of other aircraft, but also for the transportation of people and cargo, and for medical evacuations.

The A330 can accommodate 267 passengers and 45 tons of cargo. Furthermore, the aircraft can be converted in a short period of time into a flying sick bay with 6 intensive care units and 16 stretchers to transport casualties out of war zones or mission areas. One of the10 aircraft always remains available as a medical aircraft, so no delays are caused during the conversion of the airc,raft.

Combined maintenance

The 6 participating countries bear responsibility for the acquisition, management, operations and support of the fleet. Together with France, the possibility of a cooperation agreement for training, maintenance, development and spare parts is being explored.

Aircraft MMF8/T-061 of the Multinational MRTT Fleet (MMF) was delivered to the unit’s main operating station at Eindhoven Air Base in the Netherlands on 19 June 2024.

In MMU service, the A330 MRTT is designated KC-30M. The MMF capability will see NATO members Belgium, the Czech Republic, Germany, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, and Norway field 10 KC-30A aircraft between them by the time deliveries are completed in 2027.

Full operating capability (FOC) is scheduled to coincide with the arrival of the ninth aircraft later in 2024.

Photos Rob Vogelaar