Output is due to reach seven annually by end of 2027.
Airbus’s defence unit has an unannounced new buyer for its A330 multi-role tanker transport (MRTT), the company has disclosed.
“We have an undisclosed customer – and we have more to come,” Airbus Defence & Space head of air power Jean-Brice Dumont revealed at the Farnborough air show on 22 July.
Airbus earlier this year announced that it was advancing an initiative to boost its annual conversion capacity for the MRTT, adding a new station at its San Pablo site in Seville, Spain to existing infrastructure in Getafe near Madrid. To be implemented by the end of next year, that will boost total output of the platforms from a current maximum of five to seven examples.
“We have to plan a significant ramp-up of MRTT production in the years to come, to serve the demand,” Dumont says, while describing the task as “a serious challenge”.
“An undisclosed customer is driving a ramp-up, and there are other negotiations that would drive a further ramp-up,” he says. “To give you ballpark figures, this would be between 50 and 100%. On a complex product like this, [that] doesn’t happen overnight.”
Total disclosed orders for the A330-based military type currently stand at 91 aircraft, for use by 20 nations, and 66 of those have been delivered to date.
Existing operational examples are adapted from the A330-200, but Airbus is on track to hand over its first next-generation MRTT+ version – based on the re-engined A330-800 – to the Royal Thai Air Force during 2009.
Meanwhile, Dumont welcomes a recent initiative between seven NATO members to explore a pooling and sharing capability based on the A400M Atlas tactical transport.
Announced during the alliance’s annual summit in Ankara early this month, the plan was outlined as to involve existing A400M operators Belgium, France, Spain, Turkey and the UK, plus Croatia and Poland.
“Some countries will probably bring their aircraft, but some have said they will join if this [pooled] entity buys for us,” he tells FlightGlobal. Any joint acquisition could be made via the NATO Support and Procurement Agency using the SAFE funding mechanism, he suggests.
“What we need to figure out with the countries is how is it funded, and then how is it used? At the moment there is not a clear answer, but there is an intent, and money available.”
Dumont will leave his current role after five years at the end of October, to take the position of chief executive at European guided weapons company MBDA from 2 November.
The post Airbus secures undisclosed new buyer for A330 MRTT first appeared on FlightGlobal.