The Airbus A330 MRTT+ - What's It All About?

At the Farnborough Air Show in July 2024, Airbus Defence & Space announced the launch of its A330 MRTT Plus program, an update to the existing A330 MRTT, which itself is based on the A330-200. Stated to be a natural evolution and a response to market demand, this could also be a way for Airbus to do something about its lagging A330-800 sales. We take a look at this future One big thing to note is that whenever we make videos on future aircraft, visuals are always difficult to find. So in this video, you'll mostly see the original A330 MRTT, or video of the commercial passenger A330-800, which forms the basis of the future MRTT Plus. And so, as stated on a webpage dated September 13, 2024, Airbus says that it is, quote, preparing a new major evolution of the tanker through the A330 MRTT Plus program. Airbus goes on to say, The A330-200 baseline aircraft will be replaced by the A330neo or A330-800. The main changes are to the wings and engines, while the passenger cabin will also be improved. These aerodynamic and propulsion improvements are expected to reduce the aircraft's fuel burn by up to 8%, allowing for more range and or offload capacity. Airbus says that following a development phase, the A330 MRTT Plus is expected to be introduced to customers in the coming years. Speaking with FlightGlobal, Airbus' head of airpower, Jean-Brice Dumont, stated, This evolution has been looking natural for a while. With the Neo version, we can bring the MRTT to the next level of performance. For those who don't even know about the original MRTT, the jet is a militarized version of the A330-200, which serves as a multi-role tanker transport, hence the letters MRTT. More specifically, these multiple roles include medical evacuation, troop and cargo transport, and aerial refueling. In an Aeromedical Evacuation Configuration or MEDEVAC cabin, users can accommodate up to 40 stretchers, along with 20 medical staff seats and 100 passengers. When transporting passengers, interior configurations will, of course, depend on each country. This can range from the seating of up to 300 passengers to complex VIP customizations. For example, this is what one A330 MRTT looks like. Operated by the UK's Royal Air Force, the type has been designated the RAF Voyager. The specific airframe used to transport the British Royal Family, the Prime Minister, and the British Government Ministers is known as RAF Voyager Bespina. Despite its custom interior and special livery, the aircraft retains its ability to conduct air-to-air refueling. As we've noted in previous videos, the A330 MRTT always begins its life as an A330-200. If produced specifically for the military, it will be built as an A330-200 in Toulouse, and then be transported to a conversion facility for all the necessary modifications to become an MRTT. Many A330 MRTTs have also started out as A330-200s flying for commercial airlines and later purchased by governments to be converted. The most notable modifications include a refueling boom and associated control system. Under the Understanding this process, we can't really imagine any A330-800s currently in service being converted to MRTT-Pluses anytime soon. At the time of making this video, it's an incredibly short list of A330-800 operators, with seven active. Four with Kuwait Airways, two with Uganda Airlines, and one with Air Greenland. The oldest are currently about five years old as they were delivered in October 2020. Nonetheless, the development of an MRTT-Plus should at least give already-built A330-800s extra value as these jets could theoretically be purchased and converted in the future. The list of advantages of the A330 MRTT-Plus compared to the MRTT should mostly be the same as comparing the A330-200 to the A330-800. The biggest improvements will be the type's all-new wing and Rolls-Royce Trent 7000 engines. Maria Angelis Marti, head of the MRTT program, told FlightGlobal that the new version will deliver an 8% fuel efficiency improvement over the Dash 200-derived model in current use. Marti adds that the MRTT-Plus will retain the same 111 tonne in-wing fuel capacity as the current model, but the increased efficiency will allow operators to either refuel more aircraft or reach farther during missions. Airbus claims that the MRTT-Plus will offer a 41% range advantage over the smaller Boeing KC-46A. One concern early on was the A330neo's wings and their ability to handle aerial refueling. When news first emerged of an A330neo-based MRTT, Airbus said it would have to do some further research on feasibility to make sure this wouldn't be an issue. Of course, now that the program has been launched, it's clear that the new wing won't be an issue. In fact, on this topic, Marti states, "...we are confident that the wing will have the right behaviour to preserve the performance of the hose-and-drogue refueling pod operation." She goes on to say that simulation work has already been performed for this type of activity. Using the commercial passenger A330neo as a platform has huge advantages in terms of parts availability. Indeed, Airbus says the A330neo and its earlier model share 95% parts commonality. This should be a huge selling point for operators. Unfortunately, there isn't too much more information about the MRTT-Plus that has been put out by Airbus. Indeed, it's simply a few paragraphs within a webpage marketing the MRTT in general. However, in speaking with FlightGlobal, Airbus representatives are optimistic about sales for this future aircraft, with one individual saying, "...there are still orders to come, and we see that through the number of discussions we are having with customers, particularly now on the MRTT-Plus." That individual adds, "...we have customers waiting, and customers in a hurry." Although the program was announced quietly at Farnborough 2024, Airbus says it will be even more public about this program once a launch customer has been secured. Airbus launched the original A330 MRTT in the early 2000s with the Royal Australian Air Force as launch customer. When it launched, it had quite a modest sales ambition of 25 units. Considering these low expectations, its, to date, firm commitments for over 80, for use by 15 nations, should stand as a clear win for the company. It'll be interesting to see which countries end up going for the MRTT-Plus. After all, the military tanker transport market is already incredibly small and niche. With the U.S. military completely ruled out as a customer, it's arguable that most other potential customers have already committed to the original MRTT, which itself is not that old of a program. Additionally, with MRTT aircraft flying a lot less than their civilian counterparts, we have to wonder if age really is of huge importance to existing operators. Since the MRTT is based on the A330-200 and can be produced by converting old passenger airframes, this seems like a faster, more cost-effective option. Again, we don't think any of the current A330-800 operators out there will be parting with their fairly new airframes any time soon. So, will lower operating costs and slightly further range and or efficiency be more attractive than the lower acquisition costs of picking up a used-slash-retired passenger A330-200 and converting it? From this perspective, it would appear that the MRTT-Plus is somewhat competing against its predecessor. It would be great to see more A330-800s flying in the skies than we currently see today, but we'll just have to wait and see which countries actually go for the MRTT-Plus. But what do you think? Is there enough interest among friendly nations for the MRTT-Plus? Let us know what you think by leaving a comment.