RAF Voyager Tanker Arrives in U.K. (first photos)

The Royal Air Force's future tanker (the Future Strategic Tanker Aircraft), now called the Voyager, made its first stop on British soil. The aircraft arrived at the Boscombe Down flight test facility.

(Photos: Crown Copyright 2011)

The U.K. will field 14 of the tankers under the private finance initiative with the AirTanker consortium. They will be based at RAF Brize Norton. The first facilities there have already been formally opened this year.

Airbus Military plans to deliver the first of the tankers to the RAF this year to undergo trials. The U.K. will receive two tankers, then conduct trials, before conversion of the last 12 A330s into tanker begins (Cobham is to undertake that work).

The current stint in the U.K. is to clear aircraft to refuel with the tanker.

In a statement, the U.K.'s defense minister for equipment, Peter Luff saysthat "recent events in Libya and the ongoing requirement for air-to-air refuelling over Afghanistan, clearly demonstrate the essential role that air-to-air refuelling plays in getting our aircraft to where they are needed.”