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RSAF F-15SG undergoing night tanking with the A3R system.
SINGAPORE—Airbus, the Republic of Singapore Air Force (RSAF) and Singapore’s Defense Science and Technology Agency (DSTA) have received full certification from Spain’s National Institute for Aerospace Technology (INTA) for the Automatic Air-to-Air Refueling (A3R) capability on the Airbus A330 MRTT.
The approval clears the system for automated and assisted air-to-air refueling, by day and night, of the RSAF’s Lockheed Martin F-16s and Boeing F-15SGs.
The RSAF is the launch customer for A3R, having announced the partnership with Airbus and DSTA in 2020. The service achieved its first operational deployment of the capability for daytime refueling in 2022.
A3R uses computer vision technology to automatically detect and classify receiver aircraft, enabling the system to autonomously guide the refueling boom into the aircraft’s receptacle, reducing operator workload and improving consistency during contact.
María Ángeles Martí, Airbus head of tankers and derivatives, said Airbus and INTA will continue to retain oversight responsibility for integrating additional receiver platforms into the A3R software baseline. She added that future collaboration with Singapore to expand the range of certified receiver aircraft remains possible.
Martí noted that the A3R capability requires both physical modifications and software upgrades to in-service A330 MRTTs. Airbus is now working to incorporate the A3R hardware provisions as a standard feature on the A330neo-based A330 MRTT+, simplifying future adoption by customers.
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