The Polish army wants to acquire flying tankers. The idea behind the Karkonosze program has been put off for years. However, Air Force Inspector General Ireneusz Nowak said that Poland is conducting activities aimed at purchasing or leasing modern flying tankers – machines of the MRRT class.
– We held meetings with manufacturers of this type of aircraft. There are not many of these aircraft on the market, the platforms we considered are two. We started the so-called urgent operational necessity procedure – said General Ireneusz Nowak during a conversation with commentator and civilian analyst Krzysztof Wojczal, talking about the issue of the acquisition of flying tankers by Poland.
The urgent operational need implies the acquisition of new equipment without long tender procedures, based on the decision of the Ministry of National Defense. The bottleneck in this case is the capabilities of the manufacturers, because we usually have to wait at least 3-4 years for the new equipment we currently order. However, the whole process can be speeded up by renting used cars or temporarily renting old-type aircraft while waiting for the order.
Some phrases of the air force inspector announce a real revolution that will await the Polish air force in the near future. Although eye-catching fighting machines usually attract public attention, their potential can be multiplied by using other types of aircraft.
Eight planes and 14 pilots are needed to maintain a 12-hour air patrol. Having tankers can reduce these numbers by half.
Inspector of the Air Force
Both early warning aircraft and flying tankers are classified as so-called force multipliers: they enable more effective use of combat machines, performing the same tasks with fewer aircraft, and at the same time reducing the risk that the most valuable machines will be destroyed by the enemy on the ground.
Use in agile combat
The availability of flying tankers also corresponds to the Agile Combat Employment (ACE) concept also adopted by the Polish Air Force, the assumptions of which were confirmed by the progress of the war in Ukraine. ACE presupposes a distribution of air forces such that the risk that a surprise attack, for example on multiple air bases, would eliminate the majority of the air forces is excluded.
In practice this means, among other things: the use of DOL (airport road sections)that is, fragments of public roads adapted for take-off and landing of aircraft.
After a 20-year hiatus, Poland resumed air exercises using DOL in 2023: In September 2023, aircraft of many types took off and landed on provincial road No. 604, between the cities of Ruskowo and Przeździał.
However, the use of DOL is associated with some limitations, including: with the length of the section serving as the runway. The shorter runway results in a lower aircraft mass achieved by smaller load of weapons or fuel. In the latter case, a fully armed aircraft, but with an incomplete fuel supply, can be refueled in flight from a flying tanker.
NATO MMF program: in-flight refueling for all
The statement of the air force inspector means that the Karkonosze program, which aimed at purchasing tankers for Poland, which had been put aside for many years, has begun. In 2011, Poland was one of the initiators NATO MMF programmewhose purpose was to build a common fleet of flying tankers for European countries.
The initiative was successful and the aircraft were selected for a common platform Airbusy A330MRTT. Currently, NATO’s flying tanker fleet consists of 10 aircraft, of which six are stationed in Belgium and four in Germany. Countries participating in the program participate in its costs, receiving – proportionally – a pool of tanker flight hours that they can use throughout the year. Six countries are currently participating in the program:
- Germany (5.5 thousand hours),
- Netherlands (2,000 hours),
- Belgium (1 thousand hours),
- Luxembourg (200 hours),
- Czech Republic (100 hours),
- Norway (100 hours).
And Poland? Although Poland was one of the initiators of the agreement, it withdrew from the program in 2016 and declared its intention independently acquire flying tankers. Unfortunately the program was suspended for years.
Boeing KC-46 Pegasus during refueling of a B-2 Spirit aircraft, Photo source: © Public Domain Boeing KC-46 Pegasus during refueling of a B-2 Spirit aircraft Photo source: © Public Domain
Its recovery implies the need to choose between two types of aircraft, although there are multiple manufacturers of flying tankers. Why do mainly two contenders count in the competition for the Polish order – as General Ireneusz Nowak says?
Size comparison of flying tankers with the F-16, Photo source: © Licensor Size comparison of flying tankers with the F-16 Photo source: © Licensor
MRTT aircraft: more than tankers
Narrowing the choice, aside from political issues, is dictated by Polish expectations regarding the capabilities of the new machines: both main competitors bring 100-110 tons of fueland Embraer – about 25.
Furthermore, even if we talk about acquiring tankers, in practice these are universal aircraft, where in-flight refueling is only one of the possible tasks.
It will be an aircraft not only for aerial refueling, but also for long-distance strategic transport and medical evacuation.
Inspector of the Air Force
Polish “flying tankers” will therefore be machines of the MRRT (Multi Role Tanker Transport) class. These are universal structures whose purpose can be easily changed: depending on needs, they can carry not only additional fuel tanks, but also various types of cargo or people. An example is Denmark’s use of machines MMF NATO to evacuate Danish citizens transported from the Middle East after the Hamas attack on Israel.
Furthermore, machines of this type, given their size and considerable lifting capacity, can be equipped with additional devices, such as: satellite communication equipment or transmitters that allow them to perform this role flying retranslation point, allowing, for example, multi-role aircraft to communicate over long distances. Aircraft in this configuration were ordered, among others, by France.
Łukasz Michalik, journalist from Wirtualna Polska
2023-12-28 15:12:43
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