Chris Pocock has been covering the defense beat for AIN for over 30&nbsp;years. He is a British citizen and a graduate of the University of Cambridge. Chris worked in the air cargo business for ten years before becoming a full-time writer in 1983. He subsequently edited two air cargo journals before becoming AIN’s Defense Editor. He retired from that position in 2018, but still contributes to the publication. Chris has written extensively on aerial reconnaissance, including four books on the history of the U-2 spyplane. He also lectures on this and other topics related to intelligence-gathering in the Cold War.

Defense Correspondent

Chris Pocock

Airbus Defence &amp; Space has completed negotiations with the French defense procurement agency for the sale of 12 A330MRTT tankers. No value was given for the deal, which was expected but <a href="http://www.ainonline.com/aviation-news/defense/2011-11-18/french-air-force-chief-tankers-soon-anglo-french-uav-much-later">has been long&nbsp;delayed</a> for budget reasons. The aircraft will replace 14 (K)C-135FR tankers in the French air force beginning in 2018, but at a slow rate of only one or two deliveries per year.

 


Eight countries have now selected the A330MRTT, and Airbus D&amp;S notes that the type has won “every major tanker aircraft procurement competition outside the U.S. since it entered the market.” This statement discounts Brazil, which has bought two Boeing 767 tanker conversions from IAI but elected to meet the bulk of its requirement with the indigenous <a href="http://www.ainonline.com/aviation-news/2014-10-22/embraer-rolls-out-kc-390-airlifter">KC-390</a>. The other recent wins for Airbus D&amp;S were in India (six), Qatar (two) and Singapore (six). Contracts have not yet been signed with Qatar or India, where a 30-percent offset is required. Australia, Saudi Arabia, the UAE and the UK have already received aircraft. The order book now has signatures for 54 aircraft.

 


The A330MRTT is also the obvious candidate in an evaluation led by the Netherlands, for a pooled European multinational tanker fleet. This initiative by the European Defence Agency (EDA) is supposed to progress to a contract award in the middle of next year. In late 2012 ten nations signed a letter of intent to participate: Belgium, Greece, Spain, Hungary, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal and France.

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