Airbus A330 MRTT refuelling progress

I was pleased to read in today's news (Aerospace Testing International) that the Airbus A330 Multi-Role Tanker Transport (MRTT) has completed more flight testing milestones, including extended testing of its refuelling systems.

The A330 MRTT is an interesting design, as it has a centreline refuelling boom and two underwing refuelling pods, and although these perform similar functions, the electronic systems have quite different operating environments, which is reflected in their system architecture. The refuelling boom runs VxWorks 653 on an Integrated Modular Avionics (IMA) platform, whereas the underwing refuelling pods run VxWorks Cert on a federated avionics architecture in the harsh under wing environment, which can experience extremes of temperature. This is an excellent case of how a hybrid architecture can be used to achieve diverse mission requirements.

There's a photo of the view of the underwing refueling pods in the news story, and there's also a great photo of an A330 MRTT being refueled by a French Air Force tanker on the EADS website (click on the image to view a larger version).

The A330 MRT will enter service Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) in the near future, and I am looking forward to see them enter service with the UK Royal Air Force (RAF).