Airbus wins $1.3 billion deal to upgrade, maintain French A330 tankers

PARIS — France has awarded Airbus two contracts worth a combined €1.2 billion (U.S. $1.3 billion) to upgrade and service A330 transport aircraft operated by the French military, the company said in a statement Monday.

As part of the deal, Airbus will upgrade France’s A330 Multi Role Tanker Transport aircraft to become communication nodes with command-and-control capabilities as part of their anticipated integration with the Future Combat Air System .

The first upgraded aircraft is expected to qualify for service with the French Air and Space Force in 2028.

“With this new capability of the aircraft, we are preparing the future by transforming the MRTT into an in-flight communications node, as the first building block of the multi-role tanker transport of tomorrow,” Jean-Brice Dumont, the head of military air systems at Airbus Defence and Space, said in the statement.

The so-called Standard 2 upgrade focuses on connectivity and self-protection capabilities, Airbus said. The company is to equip the aircraft with a satellite communications station supplied by fellow French firm Thales, with the aim of staying connected even in jammed environments and extreme weather conditions.

The upgrade will be a stepping stone toward the A330′s integration with the “future air combat cloud” within FCAS, according to Airbus. France and Germany launched the FCAS program in 2017, with Spain joining in 2020. The effort is meant to product cutting-edge aerospace technologies for the European nations.

The other contract includes in-service support for the A330 fleet for 10 years, with an option for two additional years, at the Istres-Le Tubé Air Base in southern France. Under the deal, Airbus will guarantee a level of availability as well as support for aircraft deployed outside France.

France has 12 operational A330s, and three more are on order. Other operators of the A330 include the U.K., Australia, Singapore, Saudi Arabia, South Korea and the United Arab Emirates. Canada has nine of the aircraft on order , including five used airframes that will be converted by Airbus into strategic tankers.

Airbus says the A330 MRTT can carry up to 111 metric tons of fuel to service fighters, including the F-16, F-35 and Eurofighter, as well as large probe-equipped aircraft such as the A400M military transport plane.

Rudy Ruitenberg is a Europe correspondent for Defense News. He started his career at Bloomberg News and has experience reporting on technology, commodity markets and politics.

巴黎——空客公司周一在一份声明中表示，法国已授予该公司两份总价值 12 亿欧元（13 亿美元）的合同，用于升级和维修法国军方运营的 A330 运输机。

作为协议的一部分，空客将升级法国的 A330 多用途加油运输机，使其成为具有指挥控制能力的通信节点，以便将其与未来作战空中系统整合。

首架升级后的飞机预计将于 2028 年达到法国空军和航天部队的服役标准。

“凭借飞机的这项新能力，我们正在通过将 MRTT 转变为飞行中通信节点来为未来做好准备，这是未来多用途加油运输机的第一个组成部分，”空中客车防务与航天公司军用航空系统负责人让-布里斯·杜蒙在声明中表示。

空客公司表示，所谓的“标准2”升级主要侧重于互联互通和自我保护能力。该公司将为飞机配备由法国泰雷兹公司提供的卫星通信站，旨在即使在信号干扰严重的环境和极端天气条件下也能保持通信畅通。

据空客公司称，此次升级将成为A330与未来空中作战系统（FCAS）“未来空中作战云”整合的重要一步。法国和德国于2017年启动了FCAS项目，西班牙于2020年加入。该项目旨在为欧洲各国研发尖端航空航天技术。

另一份合同包括为位于法国南部伊斯特尔-勒图贝空军基地的A330机队提供为期10年的在役支持，并可选择续约两年。根据协议，空客将保证飞机的可用性，并为部署在法国境外的飞机提供支持。

法国目前运营着12架A330客机，另有3架订单。其他A330运营商包括英国、澳大利亚、新加坡、沙特阿拉伯、韩国和阿联酋。加拿大订购了9架A330，其中包括5架二手飞机，这些飞机将由空客公司改装成战略加油机。

空客表示，A330 MRTT 最多可携带 111 公吨燃油，为包括 F-16、F-35 和欧洲战斗机在内的战斗机以及配备大型探管的飞机（如 A400M 军用运输机）提供服务。

鲁迪·鲁伊滕贝格是《防务新闻》的欧洲记者。他的职业生涯始于彭博新闻社，拥有报道科技、大宗商品市场和政治方面的经验。