ARSAG INTERNATIONAL Aerial Refueling Systems Advisory Group NEWSLETTER J ULY 2021 From the desk of the Chairman We are pleased to announce that the 14 – 16 September ARSAG Workshop / Meeting of the Joint Standardization Board (JSB) for Aerial Refueling Systems will be held as planned in Dayton, Ohio. Around the globe, meetings, family gatherings, social, business, sports and entertainment events are returning to normal in varying degrees. ARSAG’s September Workshop / JSB meeting will be a part of that trend toward “business as usual”. ARSAG Workshops / JSB meeting welcomes about eighty military/government and industry representatives of NATO nations plus Australia. Attendees meet in seven Working Groups at individual table settings, developing the vital ARSAG documents that become critical sources of technical and operational information for allied aerial refueling nations. Many of the Working Groups have continued to develop their documents through virtual meetings, and they are to be commended; nevertheless, those remote meetings cannot replace the momentum and essential networking of face-to-face meetings. We encourage you to attend the September meeting. We expect the ARSAG calendar of events to continue on schedule, and particularly look forward to seeing you at the ARSAG Annual Meeting in San Diego in April of 2022. John B. Sams, Jr., Lieutenant General USAF, Ret. ARSAG Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Registration for 14 – 16 September 2021 ARSAG Workshop / Joint Standardization Board (JSB) for Aerial Refueling Systems Meeting Register for the 14 – 16 September ARSAG Workshop / JSB meeting on the ARSAG website at: www.arsaginc.com A hotel room reservation link for the meeting site, the Holiday Inn I675 Dayton (Fairborn) Ohio, is available on the ARSAG website. Please identify yourself as an ARSAG meeting attendee. Note: ARSAG Workshop/JSB Meetings are open to military/government and industry representatives of NATO nations plus Australia only. ARSAG's Annual Meetings are open to allied aerial refueling nations. See ARSAG Calendar of Events, Page 4 Page 1 of 7 Airbus A330 MRTT - Tanking goes automatic Airbus A330 MRTT auto refuelling system completes development phase The Airbus A330MRTT has a solid track record providing safe operational services to its customer base and other allies like the USAF. The Airbus aircraft gained its reputation as a tanker after seeing action in the Middle East supporting coalition war fighters during Operation Shader and Okra against Daesh, with interoperability, mission success and availability rates as a highlight of its performance. But for Airbus’ engineers, the road to success does not end here. They envisaged a new chapter where, under the name of SMART MRTT, the multirole tanker gained a new set of game-changing capabilities including enhanced maintenance solutions and the ability to carry out fully automated aerial refuelling operations. The automatic refuelling system was called A3R and the idea behind it was clear: reduce air refuelling operator (ARO) workload, improve safety and optimise the rate of air-to-air refuelling (AAR) transfer in operational conditions to maximise aerial superiority. Everything at the ‘simple’ push of a bottom. Two RSAF A330 MRTTs during trials in Singapore – © MINDEF Revealed to the public in 2018, the A3R has met every milestone, including several aeronautic ‘world firsts’ such as the first automated contacts. In a joint operation with the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) an Airbus’ A310 company development tanker performed seven automatic contacts with a RAAF KC-30A Multi Role Tanker Transport. More recently, in 2020, Airbus announced the first ever fully automatic refuelling operation with a boom system. The flight test campaign involved an Airbus A310 tanker testbed aircraft with an F-16 fighter aircraft of the Portuguese Air Force acting as a receiver. 2020 also saw the announcement by Airbus to collaborate with the Republic of Singapore Air Force (RSAF) to develop the A330 SMART MRTT programme. Singapore became a key partner for the new automated aerial refuelling capabilities and under the agreement, an RSAF A330 MRTT took part in the development, flight test campaign and final certification programme. Page 2 of 7 Airbus A330 MRTT auto refuelling system completes development phase, continued Successful trials in Singapore Now the A3R has taken another important leap towards certification with the completion of the development phase after a successful flight test campaign. The trials, performed with the RSAF and Singapore’s Defence Science and Technology Agency (DSTA), took place in Singapore in early 2021. It marked participation of an A3R-equipped RSAF A330 MRTT acting as tanker and several receivers from the RSAF, including another A330 MRTT and fighter aircraft like the F-16 and F-15SG. During the trial, a total of 88 fully automated dry and wet contacts and transfers of nearly 30 tonnes of fuel were successfully executed, including the first fully automated operations with another A330 MRTT and RSAF F-16D/F-16D+ receivers. All tests required for A3R Data Gathering with the F-15SG, including operational flights to demonstrate the A3R performances in a mission representative scenario were also completed. Luis Miguel Hernández, Airbus SMART MRTT Manager, said: ‘We had the opportunity to test our system with different receiver types ensuring the right fit of our systems, while gathering extensive data key to completing the A3R development. The team were able to test the limits of the system successfully, verifying its robustness and ability to automatically track receivers with varying configurations’. Key to the mission success was the excellent cooperation with the RSAF and DSTA. ‘We have built an extraordinary relationship based on mutual trust. Teams from all sides worked as a single unit during the test campaign and it is always a pleasure to fly with such a professional crew. They are the first partner nation involved in the development of the SMART MRTT, and we are honored to have them on board’, added Hernandez. Road to certification After the successful campaign and with having gathered all critical data, the teams are now gearing up for the next phase, including readiness of the final A3R version and preparation for a very demanding roadmap that will lead to certification by the end of 2021. A330 SMART MRTT infographic Submitted by Ivan Garcia Ferreiros, Airbus Page 3 of 7 ARSAG INTERNATIONAL Calendar of Events 2021 ARSAG Workshop /Joint Standardization Board (JSB) Meeting 14 – 16 September Holiday Inn I-675 (Fairborn) Dayton Ohio 2022 ARSAG Workshop / Joint Standardization Board (JSB) & Planning Meeting 1 - 3 February (to be confirmed) Holiday Inn I-675 (Fairborn) Dayton Ohio ARSAG 2022 26 - 28 April San Diego Town & Country Hotel San Diego, California ARSAG Workshop / Joint Standardization Board (JSB) 13 – 15 September (to be confirmed) Holiday Inn I-675 (Fairborn) Dayton Ohio 2023 ARSAG Workshop / Joint Standardization Board (JSB) & Planning Meeting Dates to be announced ARSAG 2023 25 - 27 April Renaissance Hotel Cleveland, Ohio ARSAG Workshop / Joint Standardization Board (JSB) Meeting Dates to be announced Page 4 of 7 KC-46: Meeting Tomorrow’s Needs Today By: Jane McCarthy-Robinson The KC-46A Pegasus is adding another line to its resume. Beyond aerial refueling and the transportation of passengers, cargo and patients, the tanker’s next-generation capabilities soon will include bringing the Advanced Battle Management System, or ABMS, to warfighters at the tactical edge. ABMS, a top modernization priority for the U.S. Air Force, is part of the Department of Defense’s Joint All Domain Command and Control effort to digitally connect all elements of the U.S. military in order to increase data sharing and accelerate decision-making. In a recent news release, Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. Charles Q. Brown said, “We’ve demonstrated that our ABMS efforts can collect vast amounts of data from air, land, sea, space and cyber domains, process that information and share it in a way that allows for faster and better decisions.” Graphic: Boeing As ABMS transitions from theory and development into acquisition and real-world testing, the Air Force will work with industry to equip a number of KC-46A tankers with communication pods as part of Capability Release No. 1, known as the Tactical Edge Network. These pods will essentially turn the tanker into an airborne “internet hotspot,” allowing aircraft to connect and share information instantly. The KC-46’s current combat capabilities will serve it well in this new role, as it is protected by various hardening and shielding technologies, defensive systems and an integrated Tactical Situational Awareness Suite. The KC-46A, based on the 767-2C commercial plane, is a multi-role tanker designed to refuel allied and coalition military aircraft and also carry passengers, cargo and patients. (Paul Weatherman photo) Page 5 of 7 Designed for mission expansion and offering extra capacity for size, weight, power and cooling, the KC- 46A is the ideal platform for integrating this next phase of the Air Force’s ABMS concept. Leveraging its mature and flight-test proven Wing Air Refueling Pod (WARP), Boeing intends to deliver this capability faster and more economically than otherwise possible. Even while carrying a communications pod, the KC- 46 will still be capable of hose & drogue refueling through the Centerline Drogue System and an additional WARP. This combination will extend the Air Force’s data fabric to deliver data as well as fuel to the fight. The Air Force is investing significant resources in ABMS development over the next five years and will rely on industry partners to bring innovative ideas to the table. The future of combat is changing and Boeing will continue to evolve to meet the needs of its defense customers. With ABMS, the Air Force will take the KC-46A Pegasus where no other tanker has gone before. Submitted by Matthew (Monty) Fritz, Boeing Fueling the Future: MQ-25 first to conduct unmanned aerial tanking NAVAIR NEWS NAVAL AIR SYSTEMS COMMAND, PATUXENT RIVER, Md.