{"id":16994,"date":"2022-07-19T18:39:40","date_gmt":"2022-07-19T18:39:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/uncategorized\/2022\/07\/19\/airbus-boeing-tout-advanced-aerial-refueling-capabilities-at-farnborough\/"},"modified":"2026-08-07T21:37:08","modified_gmt":"2026-08-07T21:37:08","slug":"airbus-boeing-tout-advanced-aerial-refueling-capabilities-at-farnborough","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/air\/2022\/07\/19\/airbus-boeing-tout-advanced-aerial-refueling-capabilities-at-farnborough\/","title":{"rendered":"Airbus, Boeing tout advanced aerial refueling capabilities at Farnborough"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">FARNBOROUGH, England \u2014 As a potential fight for the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.defensenews.com\/air\/2022\/07\/16\/us-air-force-mulls-skipping-tanker-competition-as-confidence-in-boeings-kc-46-builds\/\" target=\"_blank\">Air Force\u2019s bridge tanker<\/a> simmers, the two most likely competitors on Tuesday touted their planes\u2019 potential to carry out advanced aerial refueling operations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Airbus announced at the Farnborough Air Show on July 19 its A330 Multi Role Tanker Transport is now the first tanker to be certified to conduct automatic air-to-air refueling, or A3R, boom operations in daylight. Airbus said the certification by the Spanish National Institute for Aerospace Technology came after a collaboration with the Republic of Singapore Air Force.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The <a href=\"https:\/\/www.defensenews.com\/digital-show-dailies\/afa-air-space\/2021\/09\/17\/lockheed-reveals-new-lmxt-refueling-tanker-firing-the-opening-salvo-in-us-air-force-competition\/\" target=\"_blank\">Lockheed Martin LMXT<\/a> aerial refueling tanker, which the company hopes can compete for the KC-Y bridge tanker, is a modified Airbus A330 MRTT adapted to the<b> <\/b>U.S. Air Force\u2019s needs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Later that same day, Boeing issued a statement to reporters saying its KC-46A Pegasus \u2014 the Air Force\u2019s newest refueling tanker, of which at least 61 of a planned 179 have been delivered \u2014 has carried out autonomous boom aerial refueling capability during flight tests.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Boeing said Tuesday it continues \u201cto mature the technology, concept of operations, and the pathway to robust certification with the FAA and relevant regulators.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cAs we do so, we will continue to work with our customers to determine whether, when and how to integrate the autonomous capability to best support their mission,\u201d the company added, but declined to share more information on its autonomous refueling tests.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The Air Force is now in the process of buying more KC-46s, and is planning for a next-generation tanker dubbed the KC-Z. But it will need more tankers to bridge the gap between now and when the KC-Z becomes a reality.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In recent months the Air Force has suggested it may forgo a competition for KC-Y, and go straight to buying more KC-46s.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In a March budget briefing, Air Force Secretary Frank Kendall told reporters as the service considered what it needed out of a bridge tanker, the requirements \u201cstarted to look like a modified KC-46, more than they do a completely new design.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cI think that there\u2019s still a possibility of a competition out there,\u201d Kendall said in March. \u201cBut as we\u2019ve looked at our requirements, the likelihood of a competition has come down.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Erin Moseley, Lockheed Martin\u2019s vice president for strategy and business development for aeronautics, told Defense News in an interview that Lockheed wants to compete for the bridge tanker and sees its LMXT as complementary to the KC-46.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cWe definitely would like to demonstrate the fact that this complementary capability is important from an industrial base standpoint,\u201d Moseley said. \u201cIt\u2019s also important to be able to have multiple options for the Air Force and for other customers.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Kendall and Andrew Hunter, the service\u2019s acquisition chief, have assured Lockheed the service will go through the requirements process for determining which way to go on a KC-Y competition, Moseley said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Hunter told reporters on July 16 at the Royal International Air Tattoo in England a plan should be ready as the Air Force moves into the 2024 budget cycle.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"4864\" height=\"3648\" src=\"\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/A330-MRTT-refuels-a-RSAF-F-16D.jpg.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-35216\" srcset=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/A330-MRTT-refuels-a-RSAF-F-16D.jpg.jpg 4864w, https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/A330-MRTT-refuels-a-RSAF-F-16D.jpg.jpg?resize=300,225 300w, https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/A330-MRTT-refuels-a-RSAF-F-16D.jpg.jpg?resize=768,576 768w, https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/A330-MRTT-refuels-a-RSAF-F-16D.jpg.jpg?resize=1024,768 1024w, https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/A330-MRTT-refuels-a-RSAF-F-16D.jpg.jpg?resize=1536,1152 1536w, https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/A330-MRTT-refuels-a-RSAF-F-16D.jpg.jpg?resize=2048,1536 2048w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 4864px) 100vw, 4864px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">An Airbus A330 Multi Role Tanker Transport refuels an F-16D fighter from the Republic of Singapore Air Force. (Airbus)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Airbus said in Tuesday\u2019s release its automatic air-to-air refueling capability would reduce the workload of air refueling operators, improve safety and produce more efficient refueling transfers. Airbus said the process would not require additional equipment on the aircraft that is being refueled.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Airbus also said it has launched a demonstrator called Auto\u2019Mate it hopes will help produce technologies that move it toward autonomous refueling and formation flights. This will also include automating steps in the process carried out by the receiving aircraft.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Airbus hopes to test those new technologies in flight next year, and predicted a final end-to-end demonstration in mid-2024. These test flights would use an A310 as the refueling tanker and DT-25 target drones as the receiving aircraft.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Airbus said these autonomous aerial refueling technologies will reduce crew fatigue and training costs, while improving safety and efficiency. They could even lead to drones refueling other drones, Airbus said, potentially crucial in future wars.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The announcements touting automatic and autonomous refueling capabilities come as a potential fight for the Air Force&#8217;s KC-Y bridge tanker simmers.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":35211,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-noindex":"","_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-nofollow":"","_yoast_wpseo_canonical":"","_acf":"","_yoast_wpseo_primary_category":7,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","_smg_distribution_targets":[]},"categories":[7,160,29,87,36],"tags":[],"coauthors":[3412],"class_list":["post-16994","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-air","category-daily-news-roundup","category-digital-show-dailies","category-farnborough","category-newsletters"],"acf":{"subheadline":"","legacy_arc_id":"2GDOU3QDSJESHDGNJKW2NUT6CQ","arc_canonical_url":"\/air\/2022\/07\/19\/airbus-boeing-tout-advanced-aerial-refueling-capabilities-at-farnborough\/","remove_feature_photo":false,"is_sponsored":false,"subtype":"","redirect_url":"","disable_inline_ads":false,"native_logo_pretext":"Presented By:"},"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v26.0 (Yoast SEO v28.1) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-premium-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Airbus, Boeing tout advanced aerial refueling capabilities at Farnborough - Defense News<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"The announcements touting automatic and autonomous refueling capabilities come as a potential fight for the Air Force&#039;s KC-Y bridge tanker simmers.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"noindex, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Airbus, Boeing tout advanced aerial refueling capabilities at Farnborough\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The announcements touting automatic and autonomous refueling capabilities come as a potential fight for the Air Force&#039;s KC-Y bridge tanker simmers.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/air\/2022\/07\/19\/airbus-boeing-tout-advanced-aerial-refueling-capabilities-at-farnborough\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Defense News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2022-07-19T18:39:40+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-08-07T21:37:08+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Stephen Losey\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Stephen Losey\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\n\t    \"@context\": \"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\n\t    \"@graph\": [\n\t        {\n\t            \"@type\": \"Article\",\n\t            \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/defensenews\\\/air\\\/2022\\\/07\\\/19\\\/airbus-boeing-tout-advanced-aerial-refueling-capabilities-at-farnborough\\\/#article\",\n\t            \"isPartOf\": {\n\t                \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/defensenews\\\/air\\\/2022\\\/07\\\/19\\\/airbus-boeing-tout-advanced-aerial-refueling-capabilities-at-farnborough\\\/\"\n\t            },\n\t            \"author\": {\n\t                \"name\": \"migration\",\n\t                \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/defensenews\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/cc76c831bb37a926738c8391fca7a3b1\"\n\t            },\n\t            \"headline\": \"Airbus, Boeing tout advanced aerial refueling capabilities at Farnborough\",\n\t            \"datePublished\": \"2022-07-19T18:39:40+00:00\",\n\t            \"dateModified\": \"2026-08-07T21:37:08+00:00\",\n\t            \"mainEntityOfPage\": {\n\t                \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/defensenews\\\/air\\\/2022\\\/07\\\/19\\\/airbus-boeing-tout-advanced-aerial-refueling-capabilities-at-farnborough\\\/\"\n\t            },\n\t            \"wordCount\": 694,\n\t            \"commentCount\": 0,\n\t            \"publisher\": {\n\t                \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/defensenews\\\/#organization\"\n\t            },\n\t            \"image\": {\n\t                \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/defensenews\\\/air\\\/2022\\\/07\\\/19\\\/airbus-boeing-tout-advanced-aerial-refueling-capabilities-at-farnborough\\\/#primaryimage\"\n\t            },\n\t            \"thumbnailUrl\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/08\\\/A330-MRTT-refuels-a-RSAF-F-16-A3R.jpg.jpg\",\n\t            \"articleSection\": [\n\t                \"Air Warfare\",\n\t                \"Daily News Roundup\",\n\t                \"Digital Show Dailies\",\n\t                \"Farnborough\",\n\t                \"Newsletters\"\n\t            ],\n\t            \"inLanguage\": \"en-US\",\n\t            \"potentialAction\": [\n\t                {\n\t                    \"@type\": \"CommentAction\",\n\t                    \"name\": \"Comment\",\n\t                    \"target\": [\n\t                        \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/defensenews\\\/air\\\/2022\\\/07\\\/19\\\/airbus-boeing-tout-advanced-aerial-refueling-capabilities-at-farnborough\\\/#respond\"\n\t                    ]\n\t                }\n\t            ]\n\t        },\n\t        {\n\t            \"@type\": \"WebPage\",\n\t            \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/defensenews\\\/air\\\/2022\\\/07\\\/19\\\/airbus-boeing-tout-advanced-aerial-refueling-capabilities-at-farnborough\\\/\",\n\t            \"url\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/defensenews\\\/air\\\/2022\\\/07\\\/19\\\/airbus-boeing-tout-advanced-aerial-refueling-capabilities-at-farnborough\\\/\",\n\t            \"name\": \"Airbus, Boeing tout advanced aerial refueling capabilities at Farnborough - Defense News\",\n\t            \"isPartOf\": {\n\t                \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/defensenews\\\/#website\"\n\t            },\n\t            \"primaryImageOfPage\": {\n\t                \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/defensenews\\\/air\\\/2022\\\/07\\\/19\\\/airbus-boeing-tout-advanced-aerial-refueling-capabilities-at-farnborough\\\/#primaryimage\"\n\t            },\n\t            \"image\": {\n\t                \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/defensenews\\\/air\\\/2022\\\/07\\\/19\\\/airbus-boeing-tout-advanced-aerial-refueling-capabilities-at-farnborough\\\/#primaryimage\"\n\t            },\n\t            \"thumbnailUrl\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/08\\\/A330-MRTT-refuels-a-RSAF-F-16-A3R.jpg.jpg\",\n\t            \"datePublished\": \"2022-07-19T18:39:40+00:00\",\n\t            \"dateModified\": \"2026-08-07T21:37:08+00:00\",\n\t            \"description\": \"The announcements touting automatic and autonomous refueling capabilities come as a potential fight for the Air Force's KC-Y bridge tanker simmers.\",\n\t            \"breadcrumb\": {\n\t                \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/defensenews\\\/air\\\/2022\\\/07\\\/19\\\/airbus-boeing-tout-advanced-aerial-refueling-capabilities-at-farnborough\\\/#breadcrumb\"\n\t            },\n\t            \"inLanguage\": \"en-US\",\n\t            \"potentialAction\": [\n\t                {\n\t                    \"@type\": \"ReadAction\",\n\t                    \"target\": [\n\t                        \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/defensenews\\\/air\\\/2022\\\/07\\\/19\\\/airbus-boeing-tout-advanced-aerial-refueling-capabilities-at-farnborough\\\/\"\n\t                    ]\n\t                }\n\t            ]\n\t        },\n\t        {\n\t            \"@type\": \"ImageObject\",\n\t            \"inLanguage\": \"en-US\",\n\t            \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/defensenews\\\/air\\\/2022\\\/07\\\/19\\\/airbus-boeing-tout-advanced-aerial-refueling-capabilities-at-farnborough\\\/#primaryimage\",\n\t            \"url\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/08\\\/A330-MRTT-refuels-a-RSAF-F-16-A3R.jpg.jpg\",\n\t            \"contentUrl\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/08\\\/A330-MRTT-refuels-a-RSAF-F-16-A3R.jpg.jpg\"\n\t        },\n\t        {\n\t            \"@type\": \"BreadcrumbList\",\n\t            \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/defensenews\\\/air\\\/2022\\\/07\\\/19\\\/airbus-boeing-tout-advanced-aerial-refueling-capabilities-at-farnborough\\\/#breadcrumb\",\n\t            \"itemListElement\": [\n\t                {\n\t                    \"@type\": \"ListItem\",\n\t                    \"position\": 1,\n\t                    \"name\": \"Home\",\n\t                    \"item\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/defensenews\\\/\",\n\t                    \"ad_zone\": \"home\"\n\t                },\n\t                {\n\t                    \"@type\": \"ListItem\",\n\t                    \"position\": 2,\n\t                    \"name\": \"Air Warfare\",\n\t                    \"item\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/defensenews\\\/air\\\/\",\n\t                    \"ad_zone\": \"air\"\n\t                },\n\t                {\n\t                    \"@type\": \"ListItem\",\n\t                    \"position\": 3,\n\t                    \"name\": \"Airbus, Boeing tout advanced aerial refueling capabilities at Farnborough\"\n\t                }\n\t            ]\n\t        },\n\t        {\n\t            \"@type\": \"WebSite\",\n\t            \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/defensenews\\\/#website\",\n\t            \"url\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/defensenews\\\/\",\n\t            \"name\": \"Defense News\",\n\t            \"description\": \"Covering the politics, business and technology of defense | Defense News\",\n\t            \"publisher\": {\n\t                \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/defensenews\\\/#organization\"\n\t            },\n\t            \"potentialAction\": [\n\t                {\n\t                    \"@type\": \"SearchAction\",\n\t                    \"target\": {\n\t                        \"@type\": \"EntryPoint\",\n\t                        \"urlTemplate\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/defensenews\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"\n\t                    },\n\t                    \"query-input\": {\n\t                        \"@type\": \"PropertyValueSpecification\",\n\t                        \"valueRequired\": true,\n\t                        \"valueName\": \"search_term_string\"\n\t                    }\n\t                }\n\t            ],\n\t            \"inLanguage\": \"en-US\"\n\t        },\n\t        {\n\t            \"@type\": \"Organization\",\n\t            \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/defensenews\\\/#organization\",\n\t            \"name\": \"Defense News\",\n\t            \"url\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/defensenews\\\/\",\n\t            \"logo\": {\n\t                \"@type\": \"ImageObject\",\n\t                \"inLanguage\": \"en-US\",\n\t                \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/defensenews\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\",\n\t                \"url\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/defensenews-logo-white.png\",\n\t                \"contentUrl\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/defensenews-logo-white.png\",\n\t                \"caption\": \"Defense News\"\n\t            },\n\t            \"image\": {\n\t                \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/defensenews\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\"\n\t            }\n\t        },\n\t        {\n\t            \"@type\": \"Person\",\n\t            \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/defensenews\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/cc76c831bb37a926738c8391fca7a3b1\",\n\t            \"name\": \"migration\",\n\t            \"image\": {\n\t                \"@type\": \"ImageObject\",\n\t                \"inLanguage\": \"en-US\",\n\t                \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/9e8d47be443ce94ce7fc357677b5f9c70235bb1f59e7267a102a74af58c04f59?s=96&d=mm&r=gcf4cb6ee0ec29e49e7a963234e4340ec\",\n\t                \"url\": \"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/9e8d47be443ce94ce7fc357677b5f9c70235bb1f59e7267a102a74af58c04f59?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\n\t                \"contentUrl\": \"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/9e8d47be443ce94ce7fc357677b5f9c70235bb1f59e7267a102a74af58c04f59?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\n\t                \"caption\": \"migration\"\n\t            },\n\t            \"url\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/defensenews\\\/author\\\/migration\\\/\"\n\t        }\n\t    ]\n\t}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Airbus, Boeing tout advanced aerial refueling capabilities at Farnborough - Defense News","description":"The announcements touting automatic and autonomous refueling capabilities come as a potential fight for the Air Force's KC-Y bridge tanker simmers.","robots":{"index":"noindex","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Airbus, Boeing tout advanced aerial refueling capabilities at Farnborough","og_description":"The announcements touting automatic and autonomous refueling capabilities come as a potential fight for the Air Force's KC-Y bridge tanker simmers.","og_url":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/air\/2022\/07\/19\/airbus-boeing-tout-advanced-aerial-refueling-capabilities-at-farnborough\/","og_site_name":"Defense News","article_published_time":"2022-07-19T18:39:40+00:00","article_modified_time":"2026-08-07T21:37:08+00:00","author":"Stephen Losey","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Stephen Losey","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/air\/2022\/07\/19\/airbus-boeing-tout-advanced-aerial-refueling-capabilities-at-farnborough\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/air\/2022\/07\/19\/airbus-boeing-tout-advanced-aerial-refueling-capabilities-at-farnborough\/"},"author":{"name":"migration","@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/#\/schema\/person\/cc76c831bb37a926738c8391fca7a3b1"},"headline":"Airbus, Boeing tout advanced aerial refueling capabilities at Farnborough","datePublished":"2022-07-19T18:39:40+00:00","dateModified":"2026-08-07T21:37:08+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/air\/2022\/07\/19\/airbus-boeing-tout-advanced-aerial-refueling-capabilities-at-farnborough\/"},"wordCount":694,"commentCount":0,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/air\/2022\/07\/19\/airbus-boeing-tout-advanced-aerial-refueling-capabilities-at-farnborough\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/A330-MRTT-refuels-a-RSAF-F-16-A3R.jpg.jpg","articleSection":["Air Warfare","Daily News Roundup","Digital Show Dailies","Farnborough","Newsletters"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/air\/2022\/07\/19\/airbus-boeing-tout-advanced-aerial-refueling-capabilities-at-farnborough\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/air\/2022\/07\/19\/airbus-boeing-tout-advanced-aerial-refueling-capabilities-at-farnborough\/","url":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/air\/2022\/07\/19\/airbus-boeing-tout-advanced-aerial-refueling-capabilities-at-farnborough\/","name":"Airbus, Boeing tout advanced aerial refueling capabilities at Farnborough - Defense News","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/air\/2022\/07\/19\/airbus-boeing-tout-advanced-aerial-refueling-capabilities-at-farnborough\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/air\/2022\/07\/19\/airbus-boeing-tout-advanced-aerial-refueling-capabilities-at-farnborough\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/A330-MRTT-refuels-a-RSAF-F-16-A3R.jpg.jpg","datePublished":"2022-07-19T18:39:40+00:00","dateModified":"2026-08-07T21:37:08+00:00","description":"The announcements touting automatic and autonomous refueling capabilities come as a potential fight for the Air Force's KC-Y bridge tanker simmers.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/air\/2022\/07\/19\/airbus-boeing-tout-advanced-aerial-refueling-capabilities-at-farnborough\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/air\/2022\/07\/19\/airbus-boeing-tout-advanced-aerial-refueling-capabilities-at-farnborough\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/air\/2022\/07\/19\/airbus-boeing-tout-advanced-aerial-refueling-capabilities-at-farnborough\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/A330-MRTT-refuels-a-RSAF-F-16-A3R.jpg.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/A330-MRTT-refuels-a-RSAF-F-16-A3R.jpg.jpg"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/air\/2022\/07\/19\/airbus-boeing-tout-advanced-aerial-refueling-capabilities-at-farnborough\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/","ad_zone":"home"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Air Warfare","item":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/air\/","ad_zone":"air"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"name":"Airbus, Boeing tout advanced aerial refueling capabilities at Farnborough"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/#website","url":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/","name":"Defense News","description":"Covering the politics, business and technology of defense | Defense News","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/#organization","name":"Defense News","url":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/defensenews-logo-white.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/defensenews-logo-white.png","caption":"Defense News"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"}},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/#\/schema\/person\/cc76c831bb37a926738c8391fca7a3b1","name":"migration","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/9e8d47be443ce94ce7fc357677b5f9c70235bb1f59e7267a102a74af58c04f59?s=96&d=mm&r=gcf4cb6ee0ec29e49e7a963234e4340ec","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/9e8d47be443ce94ce7fc357677b5f9c70235bb1f59e7267a102a74af58c04f59?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/9e8d47be443ce94ce7fc357677b5f9c70235bb1f59e7267a102a74af58c04f59?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"migration"},"url":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/author\/migration\/"}]}},"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"distributor_meta":false,"distributor_terms":false,"distributor_media":false,"distributor_original_site_name":"Defense News","distributor_original_site_url":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews","push-errors":false,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/A330-MRTT-refuels-a-RSAF-F-16-A3R.jpg.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16994","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/7"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=16994"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16994\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":16998,"href":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16994\/revisions\/16998"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35211"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=16994"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=16994"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=16994"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=16994"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}