Airbus Defence and Space (DS) has performed the first air-to-air refuelling (AAR) contacts between the A400M tanker-transport aircraft and a helicopter, the company announced on 24 September.
During trials, an A400M made dry aerial refuelling contacts with an H225M (right hose) while an H160 (left hose) conducted proximity tests. (Airbus)
The tests, which occurred over four flights, saw 51 ‘dry’ (no fuel passed) contacts between an A400M tanker and an Airbus Helicopter H225M Caracal helicopter over southern France. The contacts were made between 1,000 ft and 10,000 ft altitude and at speeds as low as 105 kt.
The tests also included the first proximity trials between the A400M and an Airbus Helicopters H160 helicopter, which will be derived the Guépard future military multirole helicopter for the French armed forces.
As noted by Airbus DS, these tests were performed under the co-ordination of the French “DGA Essais en vol” flight test centre.
The next step in the flight test programme, the company said, will involve ‘wet’ (fuel being passed) contact operations scheduled to take place before the end of this year ahead of final certification in 2021.
The recommencement of helicopter refuelling trials for the A400M comes after the aircraft’s hose-and-drogue system was redesigned, after it was discovered in 2016 that the 24 m hose that was being used during the original trials was too short. With this hose, the main rotor blades of the receiver helicopter were too close to the A400M’s horizontal stabilisers, and the A400M’s turbulence made it difficult for the receiver helicopter to connect with the basket.
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