Three Additional Airbus A330 Aircraft for Armée de l’air.
The French defense procurement agency, DGA (Direction générale de l’armement) has ordered three additional Airbus A330 aircraft last month.
The procurement of the three new aircraft was initially announced on June 9 as part of the government plan to support the aeronautical industry amid the COVID-19 crisis.
The contract is worth 200 million euros. The first two aircraft will be delivered at the end of 2020 and the third in 2022.
These three A330s will eventually be converted into Phénix MRTT (Multi-Role Tanker Transport) military aircraft. They will then join 12 MRTTs expected by 2023, bringing the Air Force’s MRTT fleet to 15 aircraft, in accordance with the final objective enshrined in the Military Programming Law (LPM).
This order will make it possible to anticipate the withdrawal from service of the two Airbus A340s and two A310s of the Air Force, and ultimately simplify the management of the fleet of these strategic military aircraft on the basis of the unique Phénix MRTT model.
The advance order for these three A330 aircraft is a concrete and immediate measure of the support of the Ministry of the Armed Forces for the aeronautical industrial sector. The total amount of orders that will be placed by the DGA as part of the support of the Ministry of the Armed Forces to the aeronautics industry (advance orders for planes, helicopters and drones) will amount to €600 million, completed by more than 230 million euros for the acquisition.
