The first Airbus A330 of the Brazilian Air Force (FAB) arrived in the country this Monday (25), landing at Viracopos International Airport (Campinas) shortly before 07:00. The new aircraft, now called the KC-30, has come a long way to arrive in Brazil.
This path that actually started in 2013. In this article, we will how the FAB reached the decision to acquire the A330, which is now the largest military aircraft in the country.
KC-137 and 767
The year was 1986, when the then President of the Republic José Sarney sought to modernize the VIP transport fleet of the Brazilian Air Force, especially for presidential transport. The FAB, on the other hand, also wanted strategic refueling and transport vectors.
Meanwhile, Varig retired its veteran Boeing 707 fleet. The opportunity was there and the FAB took advantage of it, acquiring the PP-VJH, VLK, VJX and VJY registration jets. The remaining 707s in the company were retired in 1987.
The 707s, now designated KC-137 and ed 2401 to 2404, were shipped to Wichita, USA, where they were converted to serve as enger, cargo and in-flight refueling (REVO) aircraft. The planes were fitted with REVO Beech 1080 pods on the wingtips, each with a 12-foot hose.
One of them, the 2401, became the new Brazilian presidential plane, receiving a mixed configuration of REVO and VIP transport. Due to the news at the time, the “new” KC-137 were popularly nicknamed Scrap Metal.
For almost 30 years the 'Sucatão' served with the Corsário Squadron (2nd/2nd GT) from Galeão Air Force Base. Wherever they went, they drew attention especially for the great noise of the four Pratt & Whitney JT3D-7 engines, whether transporting the president, carrying cargo and troops or refueling the FAB's F-5 and A-1 fighters.
The KC-137 2401 ceased to be the presidential plane with the arrival of the Airbus A319 ACJ, called VC-1 and nicknamed “Aerolula”, as it was acquired during the istration of then-president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.
Although important vectors, the KC-137s were old and their maintenance was complicated. An accident with the 2404 in Haiti in May 2013 was the last straw for the FAB, and the planes were retired in the same year.
The aircraft that were still in Brazil were scrapped at Galeão between 2014 and 2017, which even caused revolt and disappointment in some enthusiasts, who hoped that at least one of the aircraft would be preserved at the Aerospace Museum.
Without the four-jet veterans, the Corsair Squadron was idle until 2016 when the FAB rented a Boeing 767-300ER. The FAB, in fact, already wanted to replace the KC-137 with the 767 within the scope of the KC-X2 Project, having even selected Israel Aerospace Industries for the conversion of an aircraft to REVO, which was never carried out.
The so-called C-767 arrived in the country in 2016, even to the movement of troops and cargo during the Olympics. The 767 with registration number 2900 was the only aircraft in service with the 2nd/2nd GT until it was returned to the owner in 2019. In 2020, the FAB canceled the bid for a second lease. Once again, the squadron was at a standstill.
Covid
At the time of the cancellation of the bid, the FAB, through the Brazilian Aeronautical Commission in Washington (CABW), claimed that the COVID-19 pandemic “impacted the aeronautical market, causing strategic changes and the closing of several air transport companies, with probable implication in the number of aircraft available for acquisition and leasing”.
In the same pandemic, which still lasts until today but in a much smaller way, the FAB was engaged in the repatriation flight of Brazilians in China, and in Operation COVID-19.
The repatriation mission relied on two VC-2s, the FAB EMB-190 Lineage, normally used by the President and his entourage on shorter trips or that require more planes than the Airbus VC-1. Another group of Brazilians who were in Peru were also rescued, but with veteran C-130 Hércules.
As for the COVID operation, almost all planes in the FAB transport fleet were used to transport patients, vaccines, supplies, liquid and gaseous oxygen, hospital materials, medicines, field hospitals and others throughout Brazil, especially during the peak periods of the pandemic, such as early 2021 in Manaus.
The two cases highlighted the FAB's need for a plane with more autonomy and cargo capacity. Something that, for the institution, was no longer new.
Then came the announcement. On January 29, 2021, during a “live” on Facebook, President Jair Bolsonaro revealed that the FAB was acquiring two Airbus A330 cargo. Bolsonaro also stated that the planes would be paid for with resources rescued by Operation Lava-Jato.
The excerpt from the transmission was shared by the then General Commander of the FAB, Lieutenant-Brigadier Baptista Jr., who celebrated the decision. In April of the same year, Baptista Jr. was appointed as the new Commander of the Air Force by Bolsonaro.
The Ministry of Economy still denied the purchase of the planes for the FAB, but the contract went ahead.
CABW
The KC-X3 project was born with the departure of the 767, but it was only on 27/01/2022, almost a year after Bolsonaro's speech, that the FAB opened the tender for the purchase of two Airbus A330s for future conversion to the standard MRTT.
Tender 67102.220004/2022-59 was published in the Official Gazette by the Brazilian Aeronautical Commission in Washington. CABW, whose mission is “Centralize, within its area of operation, activities of logistical and services, istration of agreements, adjustments and contracts, as well as others determined by it, all of which are of interest and responsibility of the Brazilian Air Force”, led the entire process.
It was decided that the planes could not have been manufactured before 2014 and had to be of the A330-200 series, compatible for future conversion work.
Azul was the only company to submit a proposal, being declared the winner on 06/04. The contract, valued at US$80.581 million, was signed 12 days later. The FAB then acquired its two newest and largest aircraft in its history.
Brazil, Jordan, Ireland, USA and Brazil
With the contract signed, the Air Force released details of the new planes supplied by Azul. There are two Airbus A330-243, both having made their first flights in 2014, later working for the late Avianca Brasil.
The first aircraft to arrive in Brazil is registration FAB 2901, MSN 1492. It made its first flight on 14/04/2014 and was delivered to Avianca with registration number N941AV in October 2014. In November 2017 it was transferred to Avianca Brasil which operated it until the closure of its operations under the registration PR-OCJ.
After being acquired by Azul Linhas Aéreas in 2019, it received the PR-AIS registration and was stocked in December 2020.
The MSN 1508, future FAB 2902, made its first flight on 14/03/2014, also delivered to the Colombian airline in October of the same year, with registration N508AV. In July 2017, it was transferred to the Brazilian arm of Avianca, receiving registration PR-OCK and was later returned to the leasing company Titan Airways, where it is ed as G-POWX.
Blue Former turned Brazilian Air Force A330 freshly painted leaving Dublin this evening… pic.twitter.com/B4vKWBbVR0
— Andy Monks 🛫🛬 (@AndythePandy_) July 13, 2022
REVO only in the future
Despite being called the KC-30, the K callsign is for in-flight refueling planes, which the A330 is not yet. For the time being, the aircraft is limited to carrying engers and cargo in its hold.
At the same time that it receives its new model, the Air Force is negotiating with Airbus the conversion to MRTT (Multi Role Tanker Transport) standard. The FAB wants to have its first aircraft converted in 2024.
The transformation of the model is carried out by the manufacturer in Spain, at its facilities in Getafe, in the capital Madrid. From the arrival of the plane in Europe, a job that can take up to 18 months according to Airbus begins.
The A330 has up to three refueling points, two on the wing and one on the fuselage, which receive hoses for transferring fuel. The customer can opt for the REVO boom, but this is not the case with the FAB since this method is not used by Brazilian military aircraft.
Inside, the cabin becomes configurable to receive cargo, engers or stretchers, and can be transformed into an ICU for the evacuation of patients in serious condition.
The MRTT can carry up to 45 tons of cargo, in addition to 380 engers in a single class. The aircraft can also be used in aeromedical evacuation missions (MEDEVAC) carrying 130 common stretchers, or 40 stretchers, 20 seats for medical staff and 100 engers.
As a tanker, the A330 can carry 111 tonnes of fuel, without additional tanks. According to Airbus, this is the largest capacity of any tanker in service. The aircraft can also receive a module for crew rest or be converted to VIP/Presidential transport, as was done by Royal Air Force (RAF) in one of its Voyager KC.3.
The arrival of the A330, now the KC-30, is great news, marking the return of the Corsair Squadron and obtaining a large transport capacity. Even so, the Brazilian Air Force still has a long way to go for the planes to become true force multipliers.
