Italian KC-767 tanker completes its first F-35 refuelling

[spazsinbad]

I did not know the 'Italians' were 'indian givers' (taking back fuel)? SHEESH all take and no give?

Italian KC-767 tanker completes its first F-35 refuelling
06 Aug 2015 James Drew

"Italy’s F-35 programme has passed a key test, with an Italian Air Force KC-767A taker refuelling a Lockheed Martin F-35A for the first time.

The milestone comes as Italy prepares to flight test its first domestically-assembled F-35A, which rolled off the Cameri assembly line in March and will eventually be flown to the US to support pilot training at Luke AFB in Arizona.

The joint strike fighter top-up took place 29 July over Edwards AFB in California, with 25 boom contacts and 7,259kg (16,000lb) of fuel offloaded to the US Air Force F-35 (AF-4).

“Italy's KC-767A is the first international tanker not operated by the USAF to undergo refueling certification trials with a US aircraft,” the F-35 joint programme office said in a statement...."

PHOTO: http://www.flightglobal.com/assets/geta ... emid=63090

Source: http://www.flightglobal.com/news/articl ... ng-415479/

[Jon]

Thanks for posting this. Great photo as well.

[spazsinbad]

Now for the VIDEO [the video is NOT about ARF and is not worth wading through the ads to watch either] and a bunch of text.... Many more silly claims at the URL but I left 'em there....

F-35 Joint Strike Fighter extends reach with help from allies
10 Sep 2015 Jeff Daniels

"...CNBC was invited aboard one of the Italian tanker's test certification flights last week and given a firsthand look at how the Lockheed Martin-built F-35 Joint Strike Fighter is refueled. The tanker flew out of Edwards Air Force Base in California's Mojave Desert, and once over the Pacific Ocean it lowered its boom to refuel the fighter. But a "technical glitch" described as "minor" led the Italian team to abort the test.

"The Italian Air Force is trying to become the first air force or first international tanker not contained in the U.S. inventory that is actually certified to refuel U.S. Air Force planes in the 70-year history of the U.S. Air Force," said Andrew Tayon, Boeing's project manager for KC-767 Tanker Support.

He said the tanker's full certification is "very, very close to being complete" and added that it was "incredibly significant because then it opens the door for not only the Italians but then the Japanese (owners of four additional KC-767 tankers) to hopefully begin refueling" of U.S. Air Force military aircraft.

Later this month, Australian aerial tankers are slated to become certified and thereby expand the reach of the allies beyond Europe to the Greater Pacific region. The Pentagon's DellaVedova said it would give the U.S. and its allies "more options, more capabilities and more flexibility to get to places and accomplish whatever mission needs to be done."...

...USAF Maj. Hans Buckwalter, an F-35 test pilot and acting director of operations in the 461st Flight Test Squadron at Edwards AFB, said interoperability with allied tankers saves not just time but money since "you don't need to deploy U.S. tankers around the globe. It's a game changer as we operate as a coalition."...

...Around 45 F-35 fighters are slated for delivery this year, with 19 delivered through mid-July. U.S. defense officials have previously stated at least 450 to maybe 500 aircraft would be bought under the F-35 program, from fiscal 2018 to fiscal 2020....

...Officials who spoke to CNBC said there's been positive momentum in the controversial F-35 program after years of testing and development delays. The F-35, which is several years behind schedule, is expected to cost upward of $1.5 trillion by the end of the 55-year life of the program. [WTF does that mean?]...

..."We're seeing improvement in Lockheed's costs on the F-35," said Jefferies industry analyst Howard Rubel. "It still has some bigger-picture issues. It shouldn't be the airplane (that) solves all the problems, and I think the Air Force and the Navy will come to that conclusion at some point. And we will and we do need another aircraft." [and then another and another and another and another ad finitumtumtum]

PHOTO: http://fm.cnbc.com/applications/cnbc.co ... rators.jpg (ORIGINAL 1Mb) CROPPED version below

Source: http://www.cnbc.com/2015/09/09/f-35-joi ... llies.html