Netherlands, Luxembourg To Buy 2 Airbus A330 Tanker Transport Aircraft

The Netherlands is ready to purchase two Airbus tanker transport aircraft with Luxembourg.

The aircraft will be NATO property and will be stationed at Eindhoven airbase in the Netherlands for pooling and sharing. Belgium, Germany, Norway and Poland intend to join the agreement at a later date.

“The MRTT (Multi Role Tanker Transport) project is an example of the future-oriented cooperation between European countries which stands for the Cabinet,” Dutch Defense minister Hennis Jeanine Hennis-Plasschaert was quoted as saying by blikop news Thursday.

The Netherlands also records the aircraft and is responsible for the oversight of airworthiness. Examined is whether this stationed European Air Transport Command can control the pool. Costs and staff are divided on need based on the number of flight hours each country. The expected life of the fleet is 30 years. The investment budget is between € 250 million and € 1 billion, the news daily reported.

In this case the design costs are also shared with other countries. This leads to lower costs for Luxembourg and the Netherlands. As Belgium, Germany, Norway and Poland join, the number of aircraft in the MRTT fleet can be up to 8. According to the National Aerospace Centre Eindhoven Air Base has sufficient space for all these A330 MRTT aircraft.

The two participating countries examine the possibility of cooperation in education, training and maintenance including France and Britain. The former will receive the first aircraft in 2018. Britain has been flying with the A330 MRTT's. Both aircraft will be delivered by 2020. Netherlands plans to replace its two KDC-10 aircraft gradually from service.

When purchasing A330 MRTT aircraft are the European Defence Agency (EDA), the European Organization material organization Conjo Inte de Coopération en matière d'Armement (OCCAR) closely involved.