Royal Australian Air Force Refuels USAF Aircraft in Trials

An RAAF KC-30A multirole tanker from 33 Squadron collaborated with USAF's 418th Flight Test Squadron (FLTS) at Edwards Air Force Base, California, conducting more than 400 contacts of the airframes over the course of nearly a month, RAAF said Monday. 

“In addition to increasing the interoperability between our nations’ militaries, these opportunities to collaborate closely with another professional test organization provide immense benefits to everyone involved by sharing best practices, lessons learned and unique flight test techniques," said Lieutenant Colonel Jacob Lambach, director of operations for the 418th FLTS.

The detachment included a qualified test pilot, four flight test engineers, flight test system specialist, two contractor flight test air refueling operators, as well as aircrew and maintenance personnel, RAAF said.

“A total of 412 contacts were successfully made between the KC-30A and RC-135 over eight sorties,” RAAF Flight Lieutenant Jordan 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. Air-to-air refueling provided by the KC-30A allows the RAAF to contribute to the force extension of USAF airframes, either on exercises or future operations.”

Data from the KC-30A and Boeing RC-135 air-to-air refueling will be used in a USAF flight test report, which will help facilitate a series of gateway checks, RAAF said.

"[Once] clearance has been approved by both countries, it will be documented for future use when conducting air-to-air refueling with the pairing," the service said.