The USAF chooses the KC-30 to update it´s tanker fleet
The Unites States Air Force (USAF) has decided to go for the KC-30 to update it’s fleet of tanker aircraft. The KC-30 is a variation of EADS´s A330 MRTT, and will be manufactured by Northrop-Grumman on behalf of an agreement signed with EADS / Airbus. It will be equipped with the new ‘boom’ in-flight refueling system, designed by EADS. The A330 MRTT is it self an air tanker developed from the A330-200 airliner. The USAF´s decision to go for the KC-30 has indeed upset those at Boeing. The Seattle based company has been equipping the US Air Force air tanker fleet for the past decades.
Up until now, the KC-135 (a model based on Boeing’s 707 airliner) was the airplane of choice for the USAF´s tanker fleet. It has been in service for a long time now, and it’s probably by time it was retired. At first, the Air Force had actually thought of an American aircraft to replace the KC-135. The chosen airplane was the KC-767. Most of you will have probably guessed that this tanker was developed from the B767. If that’s the case, you’re right, and to be more precise I shall say that it was developed from the B767-200. What happened is that in December 2003 the agreement signed between Boeing and the USAF was cancelled due to a corruption scandal. It was then when the Air Force decided to give Northrop-Grumman’s KC-30 a try, and they liked it.
On February 28th 2008, the USAF announced that it had chosen the KC-30 to replace it’s KC-135 fleet, and officially renamed the KC-30 as the KC-45. The US Air Force ordered 179 aircraft, with an estimated cost of 35 thousand million $. Carlos Suárez, top chief of EADS Military Transport Aircraft Division, seemed very pleased with this purchase: ‘We have succeeded in the world’s most important military market, in the American market, and we’ve done it with a first class contract.’-said Suárez. He also seemed very confident: ‘The fact that the world’s biggest and strongest air force has chosen our product is a confirmation that this product is the best, and also that we have the most advanced systems`
The A330 MRTT, now KC-45 for the US Air Force, is widely used by some of the world’s biggest air forces, including the following: the Royal Air Force (RAF), the Royal Australian Air Force, the Saudi Arabian Air Force and the United Arab Emirate’s Air Force.
Boeing didn’t take it too well
The American aircraft manufacturer seems to be pretty uncomfortable with the fact that the USAF has chosen a European airplane for it’s tanker fleet. Jim Condelles, Boeing’s spokesman, said that the Air Force’s decision was ‘a heavy blow for the American aeronautic industry, for the American workers and also for the American military’. Loosing 35 thousand million dollars is not easy. On the other hand, Carlos Suárez said the following: ‘EADS began this enterprise along with Northrop-Grumman, America’s third biggest company in the military sector. We at EADS took for granted that the race to provide the USAF with a new air tanker was going to be clean and transparent’
The USAF seems to be very pleased with the new KC-45, so long for Boeing. It´s a very stable platform, ideal for in-flight refueling procedures, and is capable of traveling very long distances. One of it’s most amazing assets is in fact it’s in-flight refueling system, called the ‘boom’ system.
The boom refueling system
It’s time to get into some technical stuff now. Developed by CASA, a Spanish partner of EADS, the ‘boom’ refueling system is probably one of the most advanced that there is around. It must be said that the USAF not only chose the KC-30 (don’t forget it’s now called KC-45 in the US), it chose the ‘boom’ equipped KC-30. Other air forces have also decided to go for the ‘boom’ equipped A330 MRTT, including the Royal Australian Air Force, the Saudi Arabian Air Force and the United Arab Emirate’s Air Force.
The ‘boom’ system was developed following three independent phases. The first one consisted of undergoing in-flight contacts with no refueling. The second phase, on the other hand, emphasized on in-flight refueling procedures on ground. The third and last phase was the real one: in-flight contacts with real refueling procedures. During this third phase, an A310 tanker aircraft equipped with the new ‘boom’ system successfully refueled a Portuguese Air Force F-16 Falcon at 27.000 feet. By this point, the ‘boom’ system had sustained 73 flight tests and over 200 hours of flight time.
Advanced Characteristics
Built upon a very complex inner structure, the ‘boom’ system operates by using ‘fly-by-wire’ controls, which are used on almost every Airbus aircraft. The ‘fly-by-wire’ system allows the pilot to control the airplane’s surfaces through a computer, making it very safe and precise to maneuver an airplane. By applying this concept to an in-flight refueling system we are creating a very precise device, capable of refueling the smallest fighter during the biggest, fiercest storm, even at night, since the ‘boom’ system has been conceived to operate both by day and by night.
When it´s in use, the ‘boom’ system is capable of transferring over 2.200 liters per minute. This enables very fast in-flight refueling procedures, all the better, the less time it takes to refuel a heavily armed jet fighter at 30.000 thousand feet the better. If anything should occur during this procedure, ‘boom’ would automatically interrupt it and retract the refueling ‘hose’ by it’s own.
The potential of this new system is enormous, and the Air Force knows it. Anyways, EADS / Airbus has surely scored a point by selling the A330- MRTT and the ‘boom’ system to the USAF. Boeing will have to wait for the next one. It’s obvious that the big rivalry between these two companies regards not only civil aviation, but military as well.
Project Aurora: the way to achieve fuel efficient landings
Environment friendly flights are becoming more and more usual. Airlines are making a big effort to ensure that their flights are cleaner and quieter, or as they like to call them, ‘greener’.
One of the last big efforts to farther contribute to these so-called environment friendly flights is project Aurora. Led by Airbus, SAS (Scandinavian Airlines) and the Swedish CAA, Aurora has developed a new landing procedure that will allow airlines to cut down the fuel consumption rate, hence cutting back polluting emissions as well. This new procedure is referred to as aurora approach or green approach.
The first green approach took place in December 2007. The flight was part of a program in which all of SAS´s A330´s inbound to Arlanda airport between December 1st 2007 and January 6th 2008 were supposed to conduct aurora arrivals. The aircraft took off from New York’s Newark Liberty International airport and landed in Arlanda as intended, this is, performing a green approach, an aurora approach.
What are these aurora approaches anyways? Well, the truth is that they’re actually quite simple procedures, and they ensure airlines to save up a lot of fuel.
While performing an aurora approach, an aircraft performs a continuous and uninterrupted descent at idle power from cruising altitude to the runway. This explains why these descents are also called continuous descent approaches (CDA´s).
During the duration of a CDA, an aircraft is supposed to fly on it’s autopilot practically until it touches down. Once it does, the airplane taxies to it’s final position using one single engine. In fact, the airplane also taxies on one engine from the boarding gate to the runway when it’s going to take off.
Not only does this procedure allow airlines to save up fuel, it also helps to reduce noise and save up time. However, SAS knows that it will still take a little while to perform CDA´s on a large scale. Air traffic remains a problem, and since Arlanda´s ground flight management system is only now beginning to test this procedure, CDA´s must be limited to days with little air traffic. If SAS decides to conduct aurora approaches on a large scale, Arlanda´s air traffic management system will have to be updated.
Another European project, this one called SESAR, which stands for Single European Sky Initiative, is closely looking at Aurora’s green approaches to improve not only Arlanda´s, but also Europe’s air traffic management system
Project Aurora and the USA
After it’s successful trial period in Arlanda Airport, project Aurora will probably be put into good use in the US under a program called AIRE, a joint program between the US Federal Aviation Administration and the European Commission. AIRE plans to expand the already established network of American airports that will be receiving aircraft conducting CDA´s. It looks like the next two airports to be included in this list will be Miami International and Atlanta International. If one keeps in mind the huge air traffic flow generated by these two airports, it will become pretty obvious that the US Federal Aviation Administration is taking project Aurora very seriously.
Forecast winds, nowcast winds and observed winds.
Another asset being tested by project Aurora is a ‘tool’ capable of giving very precise wind forecasts. This ‘tool’ (when use this word I do it in a metaphoric way), takes into consideration three different kinds of wind related information.
While in flight, an aircraft is continuously being fed with information regarding to the winds ahead of it. This information either comes from the nearest meteorological center or airport, or even from an airplane following the same flight route. This is what we call forecast winds. As for the nowcast winds and observed winds, they give live information regarding to the winds a given aircraft is actually flying through.
By taking in consideration these three kinds of wind forecasts, people at project Aurora are trying to develop a much more efficient and accurate way of knowing the winds an aircraft will run into whilst in flight. By doing so, the pilot and copilot will be able to set the most ideal cruising altitude so as to get the biggest amount of tail wind as possible, cutting down both the fuel consumption rate and the flight time.
To take advantage of this new ‘tool’ an aircraft would have to update it’s flight management system. Once it did, the airplane would be able to plot an extremely accurate and precise arrival routing, allowing the destination airport to know the exact landing time.
Several airlines (both European and American) have already taken into serious consideration conducting CDA´s on a regular basis. SAS has estimated that after more than 1300 green approaches it has saved up to 186 kg of fuel per flight, with a 315 kg reduction of CO2 emissions. Over in the USA, UPS has estimated that it would save up to almost 4 million litters of fuel in one year if it’s entire fleet conducted CDA´s. On the other hand, Delta Airlines has said that aurora approaches would allow her to save up to 500kg of fuel per landing. The benefits of this procedure are not only obvious, they’re also amazing, it wouldn’t surprise me if in a few years all airlines were conducting aurora approaches.
