FARNBOROUGH—Airbus expects to give the go-ahead this year to a major upgrade of its A330-based tanker offering, the company’s head of defense, Michael Scheollhorn, says in an interview.
Airbus in 2023 disclosed its interest in switching its multirole tanker transport (MRTT) offering from the A330 widebody to the re-engined version, called the A330neo—or MRTT+ in the tanker configuration. But the company had initially been exploring the design changes that are needed as part of the shift.
Airbus is introducing the A330neo that it offers exclusively with Rolls-Royce Trent 7000 engines. It previously offered the A330 with engine options including Pratt & Whitney, General Electric and an older Rolls-Royce powerplant, the Trent 700.
“We have not officially started yet a full-scale program,” Schoellhorn said. “I think by the end of the year, we’re going to be in a full-blown program,” he adds.
Airbus has enjoyed strong demand for the MRTT, including securing a recent top-up order from Saudi Arabia. The company has long harbored interest in selling the system to the U.S. Air Force, as well. It originally won a competition with Northrop Grumman as a prime contractor. The Government Accountability Office raised issues with the process, however, and Boeing won a new competition with the KC-46—which has become a hugely loss-making program for the U.S. manufacturer.
Airbus has continued to keep an eye on the U.S. market. Schoellhorn said the upgraded tanker is something that should be particularly attractive to the U.S. Talks continue, he said, but “there is currently no clear path as to whether or not there will be a competition.
“We stand available, but we also go after the rest of the world market,” he says.
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