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🇪🇺 Airbus A330 MRTT
Air · Airbus Defence and Space (Avrupa) · 2011
The Airbus A330 MRTT is a widebody refueling-and-transport tanker that offloads up to ~70 t of fuel while also carrying cargo, passengers or stretchers — the export-dominant Western tanker, mature and combat-proven.
Specifications
- Type: Multi-role aerial refueling + strategic transport tanker
- Manufacturer / Origin: Airbus Defence and Space — Europe (A330-200 based)
- Dimensions: Length 58.8 m · Wingspan 60.3 m
- Max takeoff weight: 233 tons (MRTT+ variant 242 tons)
- Engine: 2 × Rolls-Royce Trent 772B turbofans (~72,000 lbf thrust/engine); MRTT+ Trent 7000
- Fuel capacity: 111 tons internal (without auxiliary tanks)
- Fuel transfer: Up to 70 tons transfer with 1-hour loiter at 1,250 nm
- Range / Speed: Ferry range ~14,800 km · cruise ~860 km/h
- Refueling system: Aerial Refueling Boom System (ARBS) + Cobham 905E underwing hose-drogue pods + 805E fuselage refueling unit
- Crew / Payload: 3 persons (2 pilots + 1 refueling operator); 45 tons payload / 380 passengers / medevac configuration
- Service year: First flight 2007 · service entry 2011; 17 countries firm orders, 66+ deliveries
Beats: KC-46 Pegasus (ABD) — A330 daha büyük gövdeden çok daha fazla yakıt/yük taşır; KC-46 boom/RVS sorunlarıyla yıllarca boğuşurken MRTT olgun ve kanıtlanmış, Il-78 Midas (Rusya) — modern fly-by-wire gövde, sivil bakım altyapısı ve sertifikalı A3R otomatik ikmal ile teknolojik olarak bir kuşak ileride, KC-130J (ABD/çok-uluslu) — turboprop taktik tankerin aksine stratejik menzil, çok daha yüksek aktarım hacmi ve jet avcıları besleme hızı
Loses to: KC-46 Pegasus (ABD) — fly-by-wire boom ve gelişmiş kendini-koruma/ağ entegrasyonunda Pegasus daha modern bir sistem tasarımına sahip, KC-135 Stratotanker (ABD) — devasa filo büyüklüğü, düşük birim maliyeti ve onlarca yıllık lojistik olgunluğuyla yaygınlık/ucuzlukta öne geçer, Y-20U (Çin) — yerli üretim ölçeği ve daha büyük gövdesiyle Çin stratejik ikmal filosunu MRTT'den hızla büyütebilir
Built on the A330-200, the MRTT pairs a fly-by-wire boom (ARBS) with hose-drogue pods and certified automatic air-to-air refueling (A3R). Its size gives a big fuel/cargo margin and its civil maintenance base keeps costs down, which is why 17 nations have ordered it. As a large, slow, unarmed jet it is a defenseless force multiplier whose loss collapses a whole package's reach.
Related systems
Same manufacturer (Airbus Defence and Space (Avrupa)): A400M Atlas
Related systems (Air): KAAN, Bayraktar KIZILELMA, ANKA-3, Bayraktar TB2, Bayraktar Akıncı, Vyriy OPTO 10, Skydagger, AKBABA, GÖKTUĞ (Gökdoğan/Bozdoğan), SOM
