UK Future Strategic Air Tanker work to move from the UK to Spain

Work relating to Airbus Military A330-200 Future Strategic Tanker Aircraft (FSTA) for the UK Ministry of Defence (MoD) will be diverted from the UK to Spain, UK group Cobham announced on 22 June.

Cobham is a member of the AirTanker consortium charged with delivering the capability to the UK, alongside consortium partners EADS, Rolls-Royce, Thales UK and what was VT Group.

Conversion of the first two aircraft – to be operated by the consortium on behalf of the MoD under a private finance initiative (PFI) – took place in Spain, while the remaining 12 were to be converted by Cobham in the UK at its Bournemouth Airport facility with continuing engineering support from Airbus Military.

The remaining aircraft are now to be converted in Spain. Cobham said that this is to "ensure the continued success of the programme by co-locating aircraft engineers undertaking the conversion with the Airbus design office in Spain", therefore "greatly improving efficiency and shortening the supply chain".

Cobham added that "there have been no technical issues with the conversion process and there is no material financial impact to Cobham as a result of this change".