Dimensions
Height57ft 1inWingspan197ft 10inFully Loaded, Take-Off Field Length7,000ft runwayMaximum Fuel Off-Load Rate per Pod420gal/minCentreline Hose Drum Refuelling Hose and Drogue Refuelling Unit1Centreline Hose Length90ftCentreline Hose and Drogue, Off-Load Refuelling Rate600gal/minFull specifications
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In February 2008, the US Air Force chose the KC-30, since renamed KC-45, for its KC-X tanker aircraft replacement programme, to replace its fleet of KC-135 air tanker aircraft approaching the end of operational life.
Northrop Grumman, teamed with EADS North America, proposed the KC-30 tanker aircraft, a variant of the Airbus A330-200, for the USAF KC-X requirement. An initial contract for the first four of a 179 aircraft requirement was placed.
Boeing appealed against the award and asked the US Government Accountability Office (GAO) to review the decision in relation to the evaluation award criteria established for the competition. The GAO sustained the protest and in June 2008 recommended that the USAF reopen the bidding process. In September 2008, the US Department of Defense cancelled the competition, citing the need to defer any decision for the next presidential administration taking power in January 2008.
"The KC-45 tanker aircraft is based on the A330 multi-role tanker transport."The first KC-45 Tanker aircraft, the D-1, completed its maiden flight in September 2007. D-1 will be the first aircraft delivered to the US Air Force. D-2 completed its first flight in May 2008.
The USAF had planned to pursue a lease arrangement with Boeing for KC-767 tankers but a revised request for proposals for the KC-X was issued in December 2006. Northrop Grumman submitted a final proposal in December 2007.
The Northrop Grumman team includes EADS, General Electric Aviation, Sargent Fletcher, Honeywell, Parker, AAR Cargo Systems, Telephonics and Knight Aerospace.
The KC-45 aircraft is based on the A330 Multi-role Tanker Transport, selected by the air forces of Australia, the United Kingdom and the United Arab Emirates.
Mission equipment will include EADS's fly-by-wire Aerial Refuelling Boom System (ARBS), with two all-digital FRL 905E-series hose and drogue refuelling pods, i.e. the same configuration as selected by the Royal Australian Air Force, whose first KC-30B Tanker has been completed and is being readied for delivery.
Final assembly of the KC-45 will be carried out at EADS's Brookley Field facility in Mobile, Alabama and then the aircraft will be transferred to an adjacent Northrop Grumman facility for installation of the military systems before delivery to the US Air Force.
Mission
The USAF demand for aerial refuelling has increased over the last two decades. The mission share for tanker sorties increased from 13% during the 1991 Gulf War to 25% in Operation Iraqi Freedom in 2003.
The KC-45 aircraft can deploy fully loaded from airports and airfields with a 7,000ft runway.
KC-45 airframe
The Northrop Grumman-led KC-45 tanker team includes EADS as the principal sub-contractor. EADS is responsible for providing the proven A330-200 aircraft and its fly-by-wire advanced aerial refuelling boom system. The A330-200 aircraft has an advanced wing with optimised aerodynamics, and the airframe incorporates high-strength low-weight composite aerostructures.
Cockpit
The KC-45 has a crew of three: the pilot, co-pilot and the boom operator. The aircraft incorporates fly-by-wire technology and has cockpit commonality with the A318, A319, A320, A321 and A340 families of aircraft. The cockpit has side-stick controllers.
Smiths Aerospace, based in Grand Rapids, Michigan, was selected to provide the aircraft's flight management system.
"The USAF tanker aircraft replacement programme is designated
KC-X."Honeywell of Phoenix, Arizona is supplying the KC-45's radio management system, mission avionics suite and mechanical systems, including the Military Airborne Collision Avoidance System – Formation Rendezvous (MILACAS-FR) system.
The Communications Systems Division of Telephonics Corporation will supply the KC-45's intercommunication system.
Refuelling system
The KC-45 has a maximum fuel capacity of 250,000lb, (representing 25% more fuel than the capacity of the KC-135 aircraft) and a multi-point refuelling system with a mix of boom, hose and drogue, and hose drum systems which provide flexibility, high off-load rates and servicing of more aircraft per mission, thereby reducing or eliminating queues of waiting aircraft and lowering fuel-related mission-abort rates.
The KC-45 has two under-wing refuelling pods and a centreline hose and drogue unit, which allow probe-equipped receiver aircraft from the US Navy, Marine Corps and allied forces to be refuelled.
EADS is responsible for providing the advanced Aerial Refuelling Boom System (ARBS). Northrop Grumman is developing two options for the operation of the boom and hose and drogue system.
One operating option involves the direct view of the receiver aircraft from the rear of the KC-30. The other option involves the use of a Remote Air Refuelling Operator station (RARO station) installed in the flight deck. Both the direct view option and the RARO station option are optimised in terms of the man-machine interfaces. For day and night boom operation the aircraft is fitted with a 3D stereoscopic enhanced vision system.
Sargent Fletcher Inc, a wholly owned subsidiary of the UK company Cobham, is providing the two digital FRL 905E series hose and drogue (900 series wing pods and drogues) which will be installed on the KC-45 tanker's outboard under-wing positions. The maximum fuel offload rate of the pods is 420gal a minute (2,800lb a minute). The system will provide full interoperability with all refuelling-capable US and NATO military aircraft.
The 900 series pods already are used on EADS A310 MRTTs for the Canadian and German air forces and on the US Air Force MC-130H. The under-wing refuelling pods are installed on pre-existing hardpoints already outfitted for fuel and power and therefore require no structural modifications to the wing.
"The first KC-45 tanker aircraft, the D-1, completed its maiden flight on 25 September 2007."The centreline hose drum refuelling unit is installed under the aft section of the fuselage, and provides an additional hose and drogue contact point with a 90ft hose length and a maximum offload refuelling rate of 4,000lb a minute.
The EADS ARBS uses the same fly-by-wire technology as the KC-45's flight control system and includes an automatic load elevation system, an independent disconnect function, redundant actuation systems and power supply.
The boom is fitted with a roll and pitch joint which provides improved controllability. The maximum fuel off-load rate for the boom is 1,200gal a minute.
The boom is suitable for all current receiver aircraft and is easily adaptable for future mission requirements including the refuelling of Unmanned Air Vehicles (UAVs). The boom's geometric refuelling envelope is automatically configured for each type of receiver aircraft by the KC-45's onboard intelligent control system.
In-flight refuelling of the KC-45
The KC-45 is fitted with a Universal Aerial Refuelling Receptacle Slipway Installation (UARRSI) supplied by Parker Aerospace, based in Irvine, California. The UARRSI is the refuelling receptacle installed on top of the KC-45 that allows it to receive fuel. This allows a tanker returning to base to off-load any excess fuel to the incoming tanker thus saving fuel and costs.
Cabin and cargo decks
The aircraft can carry up to 280 troops or passengers on the main deck and there is additional volume for equipment and material in the lower deck cargo bays.
The aircraft supports the fighter squadron's deployment by transporting the operational personnel and equipment in addition to carrying out the refuelling escort for the squadron's aircraft to an overseas base. This allows the fighter squadron to deploy as a unit, and then after arrival, to quickly ramp up to a combat-level sortie.
The large cabin provides volume for additional mission equipment and the onboard power supply can accommodate add-on loads such as Scalable Multi-function Automated Relay Terminals (SMART).
"The KC-45 aircraft can deploy fully loaded from airports and airfields with a 7,000ft runway."The aircraft has the volume and power capacity to support add-on Command and Control, Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance (C2ISR) systems.
The wide-bodied fuselage can accommodate a suite of intensive-care systems and 120 stretcher patients (litters) for medical evacuation missions.
A typical mixed configuration would include 70 litters, six intensive-care units and 113 medical staff and passengers on the main deck.
Cargo
The main deck can carry 280 passengers or 26 463l pallets. Loading and unloading is through a 141in x 100in cargo door. The lower deck can carry an additional six pallets. The KC-45 cargo loading system is supplied by AAR Cargo Systems which is based in Livonia, Michigan.
Engines
The USAF KC-45 aircraft is powered by two CF6-80E1A4B turbofan engines supplied by GE Aviation and rated at 72,000lb thrust. The CF-6 series already equip the EADS A330 multi-role tanker transport for the Royal Australian Air Force on which the KC-45 is based.
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The first flight of the Northrop Grumman
KC-45 in September 2007.
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Northrop Grumman, with EADS, is proposing the KC-45 for the USAF KC-X tanker replacement programme. Computer graphic of the KC-34 refuelling F-35 joint strike fighters.
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Computer graphic of the KC-45 refuelling
F-22 aircraft using the aerial refuelling boom.
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The KC-45 has a maximum fuel capacity of 250,000lbs, 25% more fuel than the capacity of the KC-135 aircraft. Computer graphic with F/A-18 aircraft.
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The KC-45 aircraft is based on the A330 multi-role tanker transport, which has been selected by Australia, the UK and the UAE. Roll-out of the first aircraft for Australia.
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Computer graphic of the KC-45 refuelling a B-2 aircraft using the EADS Aerial Refuelling Boom System (ARBS).
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The KC-45 is fitted with a refuelling receptacle which allows a tanker returning to base to off-load any excess fuel to the incoming tanker.
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The EADS ARBS boom can offload up to 1,200gal of fuel a minute. Computer graphic with C-17 aircraft.
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Four KC-45B aircraft have been ordered by the Royal Australian Air Force for delivery from 2009.
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Up to 400 replacement tanker aircraft are required for the USAF KC-X programme, for delivery from 2010.
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Computer graphic of the KC-45 with its aerial refuelling boom extended ready to fuel an F-22.
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Hose and drogue refuelling of F/A-18 aircraft.
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