Alliance Fleet Increased to 10 Aircraft
The NATO Support and Procurement Agency (NSPA) has ordered an additional Airbus A330 Multi-Role Tanker Transport (MRTT), increasing the Multinational MRTT Fleet (MMF) to 10 aircraft.
The procurement follows Belgium’s decision to increase the number of hours it takes from the programme by an additional 1,100 flight hours per year. The MMF provides strategic transport, air-to-air refuelling and medical evacuation capabilities to its six participating nations – Belgium, the Czech Republic, Germany, Luxembourg, The Netherlands and Norway – which share costs proportionally according to the national commitment to flight hours per year.
“Since the arrival of the first aircraft in 2020 – and especially since the beginning of the war in Ukraine – the MMF is protecting European sovereignty and showing its capabilities as a multirole tanker,” commented Jean Brice Dumont, Head of Military Air Systems at Airbus Defence and Space. “With this new order, NSPA has already acquired one out of four optional MRTTs requested beyond the nine aircraft contracted earlier”.
Seven aircraft are already in service with the unit, which reached an initial operational capability earlier this month. The remaining two of the originally contracted nine aircraft are scheduled for delivery next year, with this additional airframe anticipated for 2026. Full operational capability is expected to be declared in mid-2024. The unit has already been deployed on NATO’s eastern flank and has participated in the evacuation of Afghan civilians and refugees, as well as in a variety of multinational exercises in the Indo-Pacific region.
