Indonesia completes study on aerial refuelling tanker requirement

A Royal Australian Air Force Airbus A330 MRTT refuelling a pair of USAF F-16 fighters.

The Indonesian Air Force (TNI-AU) together with state-affiliated aviation service provider GMF AeroAsia, has recently completed a technical study to support their requirements for the acquisition of aerial refuelling aircraft.

It was concluded that the aerial refuelling tanker platform should be able to support the use of both the probe-and-drogue and flying boom aerial refuelling methods, as the TNI-AU currently operate aircraft that employ both methods.

Among those considered in the study were the Airbus A330 mutirole tanker transport (MRTT), Boeing’s KC-46A Pegasus, and Russia’s Ilyushin Il-78. It was also outlined that the TNI-AU’s proposed budget is US$500 million for at least 2 tanker aircraft.

If the Indonesian Ministry of Defence approves the plan, it is expected that formal acquisition process may start by 2020.

The TNI-AU currently operate 1 Lockheed KC-130B Hercules aerial refuelling tankers using the  probe-and-drogue aerial refuelling method, and the airframes may need replacement due to age, as the C-130B aircraft platform were acquired in 1961 and converted to aerial refuelling tankers in the mid 1980s. Another KC-130B was lost in an accident in 2015.



[1] IHS Jane’s
[2] Asian Military Review