The Lockheed Martin and Airbus aerial refueling MoA

Here’s the joint PR: "Lockheed Martin (NYSE: LMT) and Airbus have signed an agreement to jointly explore opportunities to meet the growing demand for aerial refuelling for US defence customers. The companies will seek to provide aerial-refuelling services to address any identified capacity shortfall and to meet requirements for the next generation of tankers capable of operating in the challenging environments of the future battlespace. “Reliable and modernized aerial refuelling is an essential capability for our customers to maintain their global reach and strategic advantage,” said Lockheed Martin Chairman, President and CEO Marillyn Hewson. “By combining the innovation and expertise of Airbus and Lockheed Martin, we will be well positioned to provide the United States Air Force and allies around the world with the advanced refuelling solutions needed to meet 21st century security challenges.” “The US Air Force deserves the best aerial-refuelling technology and performance available under the sun and this great industry team, Lockheed Martin and Airbus, will offer exactly that,” said Tom Enders, Airbus CEO. The companies are taking a cooperative approach, with the Airbus A330 Multi Role Tanker Transport (A330 MRTT) at its heart, to examine a broad spectrum of opportunities. These may range from ways to support critical near-term air-refuelling needs, such as a fee-for-service structure to conceptualizing the tanker of the future. Airbus Defence and Space Head of Military Aircraft Fernando Alonso said: “The A330 MRTT has been selected by a dozen nations around the world. It is extensively proven in live operations and has been repeatedly praised by major air forces. We are convinced that the combination of Airbus’ tanker expertise with Lockheed Martin’s extensive US presence, has the potential to provide highly effective solutions for current and future US military aerial-refuelling requirements.” Lockheed Martin has a long and successful history of systems integration, manufacturing and MRO operations with large airlift and tanker aircraft. When combined with Airbus’ expertise, the two companies will field a strong team to address future air refuelling needs. “Airbus is an industry leader in the aerial refuelling area, and Lockheed Martin is known for cutting-edge defensive technologies and capabilities,” said Michele Evans, Executive Vice President, Lockheed Martin Aeronautics. “This is a great opportunity for our two companies to combine our expertise – cooperating to develop world-class solutions for critical needs around the world.” ------------- What might this mean? First off this is highly disruptive and won’t be easy reading in Chicago and Seattle. The reason is mainly that the USAF has made it clear (and public) that it has a tanker shortfall. This shortfall exists now and will remain so for some time. In June the USAF published an RFI about this, and it went mostly unnoticed. But Airbus and Lockheed Martin did notice it. Airbus has developed a fine tanker in the A330 MRTT which wins competitions against the Boeing 767 regularly. Readers will recall that Airbus initially competed for the last USAF tanker business with Northrop Grumman and then won but ultimately lost when Boeing protested. In another round of competition, Airbus went on its own to compete and again lost to Boeing. It was a messy affair. Boeing won an order for 179 KC-46s. Lockheed Martin is a better partner for Airbus as it has experience with tankers from its own KC-130. The partnership has a more reasonable chance of success, given Lockheed Martin’s role as a primary vendor to the USAF. Looking forward the USAF has a replacement for the KC-10, called KC-Y, which is of interest to Airbus as the A330 MRTT is of a size that Boeing cannot complain about. Indeed, the Boeing KC-46 might be too small to compete for that program. It is far off, and the size of that replacement is attractive. The USAF took delivery of 60 KC-10s. There are also two KDC-10s with the Netherlands air force that came from converting DC-10s. Given the volume in the tanker market, this is enough to attract Airbus and Lockheed Martin. Now looking far into the future, the USAF has something called KC-Z that needs stealth as part of its ability to protect the tanker from fighters. That, as one might imagine, is of great interest to Lockheed Martin as they are leaders in this field. From the Lockheed Martin perspective, the best way to characterize their part in this agreement is that first, they have several complementary capabilities with our Airbus. Lockheed Martin has been building KC-130 tanker variants for many years. The company also brings a strong relationship with U.S. government customers, based on more than 60 years of air mobility leadership and innovation. Together, Airbus and Lockheed Martin will analyze ways to help fill an air refueling gaps and complement the existing capabilities the USAF has. Some questions we put to Airbus: AI: Will these tankers be assembled in the USA? Airbus: It’s far too premature to speculate on where aircraft might need to be built or in what numbers. Fleet size would, of course, depend on the size and scope of the final customer requirement. AI: What role does Lockheed Martin play with the MRTT? Airbus: The MOA is only a cooperative document, and it doesn’t specify precise breakdown of work. Broadly speaking, we believe we have complementary capabilities, expertise and business relationships to enable us to provide a compelling solution to the Air Force. Apart from Lockheed Martin’s technical expertise, they have a very long heritage with the Air Force and an intimate understanding of how their customer operates and does business. AI: How will this MRTT differ from the current version? Airbus: Again, it’s premature to speculate. The MRTT exists in many different configurations to meet the mission needs of its customers around the world, and any aircraft platform serving the needs of the Air Force would similarly be configured to meet whatever capability requirements they identify. Items to consider from this news: Is the USAF putting a shot across the bow of Boeing? Perhaps, but it seems more about getting more tankers in the air as needs seem to be growing. The deal being discussed seems to fit the type of work currently done by Omega Air Tanker - so there is a precedent for commercial service The deal feels similar to Airbus Lakota deal with the US Army - a commercial "off the shelf" solution that does not need armor and can fly in a "non-contested airspace" The extra tanker requirement has been described as needing "14 squadrons" of tankers, also see this With this size of requirement, might this give the A330-800 an opportunity as the next generation MRTT? A long shot but should be mentioned in passing. The current MRTT is certified to boom-refuel A330 MRTT, C-17, E-3 AWACS, E-7 Wedgetail, F-15, F-16, F-35A, P-8, and F-22 and use Hose and Drogue for AV-8B, C-130, E-3D AWACS, EA-6B, EA-18G, Eurofighter, F-18, F-35B, Mirage 2000, Rafale, and Tornado. In summary - the MoA between these two companies will no doubt shake up the US tanker business. And, in the end, competition is great for everyone.

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