The UK’s FSTA: An Aerial Tanker Program - With a Difference

The UK’s FSTA: An Aerial Tanker Program - With a Difference

July 18, 2008: Back in March 2005, “British AirTanker Deal May Go Private” discussed the deal for a potential public-private partnership to buy, equip, and operate the RAF’s future aerial tanker fleet, and noted the selection of a preferred consortium. The RAF would fly the 14 Airbus A330-MRTT aircraft on operational missions and receive absolute preferential access to the planes, while the contractor handled maintenance, received payment from the RAF on a per-use basis, and operated them as passenger or transport aircraft when the RAF didn’t need them. The deal became politically controversial; though it was based on a practice that has been successful in Britain, it had surface similarities with the USA’s controversial and canceled KC-767 lease deal. Negotiations on the multi-billion pound, 27-year deal, meanwhile, charted new territory for both the government and private industry. Which may help to explain why the final decision to move ahead on a “Private Financing Initiative” basis had yet to be issued, and procurement had yet to begin, over 2 years after a preferred bidder was selected. That hurdle is now clear, and Britain has just issued the world’s largest-ever Defence Private Finance Initiative (PFI) contract. This FOCUS Article describes the current British fleet, the aircraft they chose and how the new fleet will compare, the innovative deal structure they’ve chosen, and the project’s key events. The most recent events include a contract for LAIRCM self-protection systems