24
GA
/ Vol. 5 / No.4 / APRIL 2013
Military News
The Australian Department of
Defence has declared Initial
Operational Capability (IOC) of
the Airbus Military KC-30A - its
designation for the A330 MRTT.
The announcement was made
on the opening day of the Australian
International Air Show, Avalon, by
Minister for Defence Stephen Smith
(pictured above) and Minister for
Defence Materiel Mike Kelly.
The Royal Australian Air Force
(RAAF) accepted the fifth and
final MRTT from Airbus Military
on 30 November last year. The
aircraft was delivered to RAAF
Base Amberley in early December
2012. As well, the RAAF completed
the first Australian pilot and Air
Refuelling Operator courses at the
MRTT training centre (RAAF Base
Amberley) in December 2012.
Airbus Military Vice President
Derivative Programmes, Antonio
Caramazana said: "We very much
welcome the announcement of the
Initial Operating Capability of the
KC-30A. This reinforces the fact that
the A330 MRTT is the world´s only
certified and flying new generation
tanker/transport and the RAAF is
to be commended for its dedication
and commitment to bringing the
aircraft to operational status."
In RAAF service the A330
MRTT is equipped with two
underwing refuelling pods, the
fly-by-wire Airbus Military Aerial
Refuelling Boom System (ARBS),
and a Universal Aerial Refuelling
Receptacle Slipway Installation
(UARRSI) enabling it to be
refuelled from another tanker.
Powered by two General Electric
CF6-80E engines, the aircraft
equipped with a comprehensive
defensive aids suite (DAS) and
fitted with 270 passenger seats. ·
Department of Defence announces initial operational
Australian capability for the Airbus Military A330 MRTT
From left to right:
AIRCDRE Gary Martin, Commander RAAF
Air Lift Group; The Honourable Stephen
Smith MP, Minister for Defence; AIRMSHL
Geoffrey Brown, Chief of Air Force.
The first large military airlifter
developed by China made its maiden
flight on January 26. The Y-20
airlifter prototype stayed in the air
for about one hour before returning
to the Yanliang Air Base in Xian.
The aircraft is larger than
Europe's A400M but smaller
than the Boeing C-17.
The Yun-20, or Transport-20, is
a huge, multi-function airfreighter
which can perform various long-
distance air transportation tasks
targeting cargo and passengers.
The successful maiden flight of
Yun-20 is significant in promoting
China's economic and national
defense buildup as well as bettering
its emergency handling such as
disaster relief and humanitarian aid.
The giant aircraft will
continue to undergo experiments
and test flights as scheduled.
The long-range aircraft, the
Y-20, will improve the military's air
transportation, according to ministry
spokesman Yang Yujun, who spoke to
reporters at a news briefing in Beijing.
The move is not only in line
with the military's modernization,
but also serves the purposes of
providing disaster relief and
assistance in emergency situations.
"Research and development is
proceeding as planned," he said,
without saying when the aircraft
will make its debut. He added that
the development needs to undergo a
series of phases such as designing,
experiments and trials, because
"the technology is complicated".
Although there has been praise
within China for the aircraft's flight,
numerous problems have to be
overcome as China endeavors to
mass produce Y-20s by 2017. Four
Russian-made D30KP2 engines power
the prototype although the production
type is set to carry Chinese engines
such as the CJ1000A or its military
variant WS18. Meanwhile, Ukraine
is reported to be considering a sale
to China of a patent for the D18T
engine, which powers the Antonov
An-124 heavy airlifter. It is possible
that the D18T might be a little too
powerful for the Y-20 but it will be
suitable for an even larger airlifter
about which there is much speculation.
The Y-20's payload is also an issue.
Official data gives this as a maximum
66 metric tons but the D30KP2
engine-powered prototype apparently
has a payload of less than 55 metric
tons, equivalent to the current large
airlifter in Chinese military service, the
Russian-made Ilyushin Il-76 transport.
This lack of payload makes it doubtful
whether the aircraft could transport
the Type 99 battle tank which weights
between 54 and 59 metric tons. The
tank is 3.5 meters wide while un-
confirmed reports gives the Y-20's
cross-section as 4m. The new airlifter's
fuselage is 47m long and the tail
stands at 15m. The wingspan is 45m.
The Y-20 follows the configuration
set by the Lockheed C-141, with
a high-mounted wing, moderately
swept to combine good low-speed
performance with reasonable cruising
speed, fuselage-mounted landing gear
and a T-tail used by all successful jet
airlifters have used that configuration,
except the An-124, which has a low
tail. The Y-20's wing has full-span
slats and triple-slotted trailing-edge
flaps, the latter comprising two
articulated segments with a fixed vane
on the forward surface. The engines
are hung low as on the Il-76 and the
Y-20 does not use externally blown
flaps in the same way as the C-17.
The ailerons can also droop to
increase lift at low speeds, and large
spoilers are fitted for roll control
and lift dumping. Like the C-17,
the Y-20 has a four-piece rudder,
with upper and lower double-hinged
segments. This provides both
redundancy and the ability to use
higher deflection on the lower half
than on the upper rudder panels,
reducing loads on the vertical tail
The landing gear looks similar
in layout to the A400M's, with
three separate twin-wheel units on
each side. Operating jet airlifters
from truly unimproved surfaces
is not practicable, but the Y-20
should be as good as any of its
contemporaries in this regard. ·
China's
new airlifter
gets airborn
By: Cesare de Villiers