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OCCAR has ordered an Airbus A330 MRTT on behalf of NATO, following a decision from Luxembourg to ramp up its participation in the Multinational Fleet program.
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Airbus has received an order for an additional A330 Multi-Role Tanker Transport (MRTT) from the Organisation for Joint Armament Co-operation (OCCAR), acting on behalf of the NATO Support and Procurement Agency (NSPA).
The Airbus A330 will be configured for in-flight refuelling, the transport of passengers and cargo, and medical evacuation operations.
The order is in response to a decision from Luxembourg to maximise its participation in the Multinational MRTT Fleet (MMF) program, committing to a significant increase in the number of flight hours contracted, from 200 to 1,200.
The Airbus A330 MRTT, which is part of the three additional options originally included in the contract, will increase the size of the MMF fleet to nine aircraft.
According to Airbus, the additional aircraft would enable other NATO nations to cover their needs in air-to-air refuelling, strategic transport and medical evacuation.
The MMF program is jointly funded by the Netherlands, Luxembourg, Norway, Germany, Belgium and Czech Republic, who have been authorised to operate the NATO–owned aircraft in a pooling arrangement.
The MMF program was established in 2012 by the European Defence Agency (EDA), with OCCAR managing the MMF acquisition phase as contract executing agent on behalf of NSPA.
Upon completion of the acquisition phase, NSPA will be responsible for the complete life cycle management of the fleet.
[Related: Airbus to support UK MOD with state-of-the-art MILSATCOM capability]
