For decades aerial refuelling was considered a strategic capability available only to a few nations. Air-to-air refuelling (AAR) missions were limited to large platforms specially built by the USA and Russia to support their strategic air forces during the Cold War. Since the 1980s, Europe and China have joined with AAR based on military or commercial aircraft.
In parallel to these newly built platforms, Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI) first introduced different AAR solutions by converting preowned passenger jets into aerial tankers for the Israel Air Force (IAF) and several international customers. Since then, IAI has modified dozens of aircraft to AAR platforms of different types. These aircraft have served in 12+ air forces worldwide, including the Indian Air Force.
This story is from the Issue 11, 2023 edition of SP’s Aviation.
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This story is from the Issue 11, 2023 edition of SP’s Aviation.
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