The US Navy and the Royal Australian Air Force recently conducted their first-ever cooperative air-to-air refueling using a P-8A Poseidon aircraft and a KC-30A multi-role tanker transport aircraft.
According to a press release, the exercise was held to strengthen interoperability between the two armed forces and enable their military aircraft to remain in the air longer without landing to refuel.
During the drill, the KC-30A tanker plane flew in close formation with the P-8A Poseidon at 500 miles (804 kilometers) per hour to connect its 55-foot (16-meter) boom.
A Royal Australian Air Force commanding officer explained that the joint exercise provides additional means to overcome challenges in the Indo-Pacific region, specifically improving the operational range of military aircraft.
“Refueling a surveillance aircraft like the P-8A also provides it with persistence in the joint space, and adds flexibility to how it might support the fleet,” the officer stated.
US Capt. Clifford W. Toraason said that improving interoperability between the two allied nations is a “valuable opportunity.”
Aerial Refueling Gap
National Defense Magazine reported that the US Air Force is facing a gap in aerial refueling capacity as the service is ready to retire aging KC-10 and KC-135 tanker aircraft.
A November report by the Hudson Institute, Resilient Aerial Refueling: Safeguarding the US Military’s Global Reach, claimed that the US military will suffer a six to 11 percent reduction in aggregate fuel offload capacity this decade.
Air Mobility Command said that it would continue to use the KC-10 and KC-135 in providing sufficient capacity to fulfill aerial refueling requirements not met by the KC-46A aircraft.
This means that American aerial assets will continue to be refueled by legacy tankers, which are 52 years old.