Having delivered a pod-equipped Boeing 767 multi-mission tanker transport (MMTT) to the Colombian air force in late 2010, IAI’s Bedek Aircraft division has now added a flying boom option to its MMTT offering. The design of the boom has been finalized and testing completed. The boom is an IAI-designed fly-by-wire (FBW) unit controlled from a remote air refueling operator’s station on the flight deck. It can be installed to complement two underwing hose-drogue units, also of IAI design, and even a third, fuselage-mounted unit.

“Three years ago we began developing the new generation of 767 MMTT,” said Moshe Scharf, senior director of business and marketing at Bedek Aviation. “We are expecting the supply of this type of aircraft to certain European air forces in the coming months,” he added, although he declined to provide further details.

Named Jupiter and based on the 767-200ER, the Colombian air force’s 767 MMTT was acquired to provide long-range transport and to refuel the air force’s IAI Kfir C10 fighters via its two underwing hose-drogue pods. The 767 replaced an elderly Boeing 707 that had also been converted to tanker standard by IAI Bedek. The division has a long history of tanker conversions, and hopes to sell more 767 conversions as a low-cost yet effective competitor to the new-build Airbus A330 MRTT and Boeing KC-46.