Australia Expanding Air-to-Air Refuelling Support

The Royal Australian Air Force has conducted air-to-air refuelling clearance trials with two United States Air Force (USAF) airframes. 

Over almost a month-long period, a RAAF KC-30A Multi-Role Tanker Transport from 33 Squadron provided refuelling support to a RAAF Aircraft Research and Development Unit (ARDU) and USAF co-led air-to-air refuelling clearance trial of the USAF Boeing RC-135 and A-10C Warthog. 

Conducted from Edwards Air Force Base, California, the RAAF detachment worked collaboratively with base personnel, in particular the USAF 418th Flight Test Squadron (FLTS) from 412th Test Wing.

Flight Lieutenant Jordan Smith, a qualified test pilot for the activity, said nearly 450 contacts were made across both airframes. 

“A total of 412 contacts were successfully made between the KC-30A and RC-135 over eight sorties,” Flight Lieutenant Smith said.

“The RC-135 works well as a receiver for the KC-30A as they are relatively stable in contact position and the fuel offload rate is reasonable for its size.”

The A-10C Warthog is considerably slower than the majority of aircraft the KC-30A is compatible with. However, the KC-30A also performs well at slower speeds, with 34 successful contacts made through one sortie.

The RAAF detachment consisted of ARDU flight test aircrew, including one qualified test pilot and four flight test engineers, a flight test system specialist, two contractor flight test air refuelling operators and other personnel from 33 Squadron, including aircrew and maintenance personnel.

The clearance trials were a result of three months of preparation to understand what data needed to be collected and the risks involved with testing.

Flight Lieutenant Smith said the first flight after months of planning was worth the wait.

“It has been pretty much my sole focus for a couple of months, with a number of issues that almost stopped the program progressing,” Flight Lieutenant Smith said.

“It was just great to see a RC-135 in the KC-30A cameras moving into the contact position.”

Following the trials, the KC-30A and Boeing RC-135 air-to-air refuelling data will be processed to make the final flight test assessments of the pairing for the USAF Flight Test Report.

The report will help facilitate a series of gateway checks and once the clearance has been approved by both countries, it will be documented for future use when conducting air-to-air refuelling with the pairing. 

The testing with the RC-135 will also allow clearances to be issued for other USAF C-135 variants.

Flight Lieutenant Smith said that developing and learning from these sorts of trials deepens understanding of interoperability and strengthens the partnership between the two nations.

“Air-to-air refuelling provided by the KC-30A allows the RAAF to contribute to the force extension of USAF airframes, either on exercises or future operations,” he said.

“It is always a rewarding opportunity to work in a bilateral arrangement, operating out of Edwards Air Force Base and alongside the 418th FLTS.”

This sentiment was shared by USAF Director of Operations, 418th FLTS, Lieutenant Colonel Jacob Lambach.

“In addition to increasing the interoperability between our nations’ militaries, these opportunities to collaborate closely with another professional test organisation provide immense benefits to everyone involved by sharing best practices, lessons learned and unique flight test techniques,” Lieutenant Colonel Lambach said.