RAF seeks boom tanker for GCAP
A Singaporean F-15 Eagle taking on fuel from a boom-equipped Airbus MRTT tanker. The RAF is now seeking such a solution to service its future GCAP aircraft, likely to be known as Tempest, (Singapore Ministry of Defence)
The UK Royal Air Force (RAF) is seeking a boom-equipped air-to-air refuelling (AAR) aircraft to service the next-generation fighter now being developed under the Global Combat Air Programme (GCAP).
Speaking at the Air Power Association Global Air and Space Chiefs' Conference 2026 in London, an official confirmed for the first time that the GCAP, which will likely be named Tempest in RAF service, will be equipped with the Universal Aerial Refueling Receptacle Slipway Installation (UARRSI) that requires a boom-equipped tanker aircraft.
“We currently do not have boom[-equipped tankers] in the UK. We have a requirement for a boom from GCAP, so we have to resolve that requirement and that is what we are now looking at. I [am] certain that at some point we are going to have to work out how we deliver a sovereign boom capability for our own combat aircraft,” the official said during a question and answer session on 15 July 2026, adding that the RAF is now analysing the timelines and structures of such a procurement.
UK aerial refuelling is typically provided by up to 14 AirTanker-owned but RAF-operated Voyager KC2/3 tankers. Based on the Airbus A330-200 Multirole Tanker Transport (MRTT) aircraft, the Voyager KC2 is equipped only with wingtip pods with the Voyager KC3 adding a centreline hose, meaning all receiver aircraft equipped must be fitted with probes.
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