Polish Air Force wants to procude Multi-Mission Tanker/Transport aircraft

At MSPO 2017, Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI)-Bedek confirmed that it has answered Poland’s RFI (Request for Information) regarding a MMTT (Multi-Mission Tanker/Transport)-class aircraft, which Warsaw wants to procure for the Polish Air Force.

IAI-Bedek confirmed that it has offered Poland a conversion of a standard Boeing B767-300ER into a modern MMTT-class aircraft which is configured simultaneously for air refuelling operation, cargo transport, VIP/passengers transport and ISR duties. As IAI-Bedek said, an upgraded aircraft includes a special cargo door and built-in cargo pallet capabilities. Passenger seats and consoles can be easily installed or removed when needed. Due to its versatility, IAI calls its aircraft a ‘smart tanker’. According to the company, configuration change can be made in 2-3 hours. The maximum range of the aircraft is 11,000 kilometres. In operational configuration the range is smaller – for a transport variant (200 soldiers with full equipment) the range is reported to be close to 8,000 kilometres, while for a fuel variant (35 tons of fuel) it is 3,600 kilometres. For a cargo variant (36t ), the reported range is 5,400 kilometres.

For air-to-air refuelling, an aircraft can be equipped with one point flying boom, two points hose and drogue three points hose, and drogue or three points combi-hose and drogue with a flying boom. The final options depend on Polish requirements, IAI’s official told Mil-Tech during MSPO 2017. For air-to-air operations, IAI’s aircraft is equipped with the fly-by-wire solution.

An important element of IAI-Bedek’s offer is the fact, stated by the company’s official, that a standard B767-300ER is not only converted but also refurbished, which means that its service life is reset. This means that a MMTT aircraft based on even an old B767-300ER can serve in operational service for at least 30 years.

Robert Czulda