NATO’s new A330 MRTT aircraft to provide support for NATO Airborne Early Warning and Control Force

On 30 January 2025, the NATO Airborne Early Warning and Control Force (NAEW&CF) finalised negotiations with the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg for additional air-to-air refuelling (AAR) and transport support for the NATO AWACS force at Geilenkirchen.

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Starting later this year, the NATO Multinational Multirole Tanker Transport Unit (MMU), will support NAEW&CF missions with their Airbus A330 Multirole Tanker Transport (MRTT) aircraft. Until now, most AAR training has been provided by US Air National Guard tanker units undertaking rotational deployments to NATO Air Base Geilenkirchen, the home of the NATO Airborne Early Warning and Control Force (NAEW&CF) and its E-3 Sentry aircraft. The NAEW&CF maintains three forward-operating bases at Aktion in Greece, Trapani in Italy, Konya in Türkiye and a forward-operating location at Ørland in Norway.

AAR training and transportation support is provided by a diverse cohort of partner nations which will henceforth also include the NATO Multinational Multirole Tanker Transport Unit (MMU).

The Multinational MRTT Fleet (MMF) is owned by NATO and managed by the NATO Support and Procurement Agency (NSPA), and is mainly based out of Eindhoven in the Netherlands. These aircraft further enhance NATO’s operational capability and provide greater multinational flexibility for Allied nations.

The MMU fleet received its eighth A330 MRTT aircraft out of a scheduled ten in June 2024.

The Multinational MRTT Fleet (MMF) is owned by NATO and managed by the NATO Support and Procurement Agency (NSPA); its MMF team is based at the NSPA headquarters in Capellen, Luxembourg, with staff at Eindhoven, Cologne-Wahn, Bonn and Getafe providing additional support. The MMF provides strategic transport, air-to-air refuelling and medical evacuation capabilities to its six participating nations: Belgium, Czechia, Germany, Luxembourg, The Netherlands and Norway. The programme is based on a pooling and sharing concept, laid down in a Memorandum of Understanding. The participating nations pool the aircraft and share costs while leveraging significant economies of scale.

The negotiations finalised on 30 January 2025, involved the NATO Airborne Early Warning and Control Force Office of Legal Affairs (acting on behalf of SHAPE) and the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg – notional operator of the NATO Airborne Early Warning and Control Force.

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