Cobham Mission Systems, Wimborne: On 30^th September 2016 the AirTanker consortium, of which Cobham is a shareholder, reached the final milestone in the Future Strategic Tanker Aircraft (FSTA) programme with the achievement of Full Service Date (FSD). 

The FSTA project, which is the largest private funded defence project to date, includes a 27-year contract through to 2035 that covers the delivery of aircraft as well as the associated infrastructure, service and support.  Cobham, which has provided its air-to-air refuelling equipment for the aircraft, will be maintaining these systems on the Wing and in the Fuselage of the Voyager for the duration of the contract.

Alan Ephgrave, Vice President at Cobham Mission Systems in Wimborne said "When we stand back and take stock of what has been achieved it is truly magnificent.  Working alongside our colleagues within AirTanker Services Ltd to deliver such outstanding capability to the RAF is ground-breaking and we are very proud of the role played by Cobham in helping deliver this."

Above, image of Voyager copyright © AirTanker - Geoffrey Lee

The final aircraft, FSTA 14, arrived at RAF Brize Norton in July 2016, completing the aircraft delivery requirements of the FSTA Contract.  The fleet of nine core and five surge aircraft, operate in both the military and civil leasing sectors.

Phill Blundell, CEO AirTanker Ltd, said: "Today is a landmark date for everyone involved in the Voyager programme. Following the contract award to AirTanker by the Ministry of Defence in 2008, the whole AirTanker team has worked tirelessly together with our industry partners and RAF colleagues to deliver this vital capability. The fact that we have done so on time and on budget is testament to that teamwork and commitment."

About Cobham and AirTanker

Cobham shares in AirTanker's success milestone having been involved with the Voyager programme since its inception as both a shareholder and air-to-air refuelling systems provider and maintainer. The 14 aircraft which have been delivered are all equipped with Cobham Mission Systems 905E wing aerial refuelling pods.  Five of the 14 aircraft are three-point capable tankers which carry Mission Systems 805E fuselage refuelling units for refuelling larger aircraft.

About Cobham Mission Systems

The most capable critical control solutions for extreme environments.

As the world's leading supplier of critical control solutions, we help our customers to increase the safety and mission capabilities of their personnel and equipment in extreme environments.

Our proven and trusted solutions in air-to-air refuelling, life support and weapons carriage systems, deliver assured performance and class-leading through-life costs that enable our customers to bring complex projects to market quickly, and with minimal risk.

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