signature=faf2836a77ce62ffe91d6908c71a734e,France firms up order for MRTT aircraft

【摘要】

France has formally signed for a further eight of the 12 Airbus Defence and Space (DS) A330-200 MultiRole Tanker Transport (MRTT) aircraft that it said it would procure late last year. The deal from the French Defence Procurement Agency (DGA), which was announced by the company on 15 December, brings to nine the number of MRTTs now under contract following the signature for an initial aircraft in November 2014. The remaining three platforms are scheduled to be confirmed in 2018, with deliveries beginning the same year. All 12 platforms will be with the French Air Force (FAF) by the end of 2025. In French service the A330-200 MRTTs will be powered by Rolls-Royce Trent 700 engines and equipped with a combination of the Airbus Refuelling Boom System (ARBS) and underwing hose-and-drogue refuelling pods. It will also be possible to configure them in a variety of layouts to carry up to 271 passengers as well as mede-vac arrangements including the French MORPHEE intensive care module, which carries up to 10 patients as well as 88 passengers. A cargo door in the upper deck will facilitate the loading of stretchered patients, as well as enabling the aircraft to be better used as a freighter.