Lockheed Martin, Airbus to Jointly Explore Aerial Refueling Opportunities for US Defense Customers

Lockheed Martin and Airbus have signed an agreement to jointly explore opportunities for aerial refueling for the United States defense customers.

The companies will seek to provide aerial-refueling services to address any identified capacity shortfall and to meet requirements for the next generation of tankers capable of operating in the challenging environments of future battlespace, Lockheed Martin said in a statement Tuesday.

The companies are taking a cooperative approach, with the Airbus A330 Multi Role Tanker Transport (A330 MRTT) at its heart, to examine a broad spectrum of opportunities. These may range from ways to support critical near-term air-refueling needs, such as a fee-for-service structure to conceptualizing the tanker of the future.