Main Conference Day Two: 26th January

08.30 Registration And Coffee

09.00 Chairman’s Recap

Air Commodore Peter Gray (ret’d)
Senior Research Fellow in Air Power Studies
Birmingham University

09.10 US Navy Leasing Of Commercial AAR Interm Service (CAARIS)

  • Providing a leasing structure
  • Establishing a cost effective option
  • Potential expansion to other services
  • Adaptation of service for other nations
  • Developing a training programme

Theresa Boswell
Programme Manager, Commercial Air Services, NAVAIR
US Navy

Charlie Myers
Special Projects Manager, Commercial Air Services, NAVAIR
US Navy

10.30 Coffee And Networking Break

11.00 Developing An AAR Capability From Current Air Transport Assets

  • Background to the tanker project: Why Sweden desires AAR capability
  • Air-to-air refuelling with Gripen and C-130 Hercules aircraft
  • The challenges of adding extra fuel tanks
  • The next steps for the tanker project

Jan Larsson
Tanker Project
Swedish Air Force

11.40 US Marine Corps AAR Operations

  • Aerial refuelling service to fixed and rotary wing aircraft
  • KC-130
  • Recent operational feedback

Lieutenant Colonel David Morris
Commander, Marine Aerial Refueler Transport Squadron 252
US Marine Corps

12.20 Networking Lunch

14.00 Aerial Refuelling Of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs)

  • UAV – UAV refuelling
  • Refuelling of UAVs using the probe-and-drogue method
  • Developing an actively stabilized drogue
  • The challenge of removing the “ìman-in-the-loop”î

John Valasek
Ph.D., Associate Professor and Director, Vehicle Systems & Control Laboratory Aerospace Engineering Department
Texas A&M University

14.40 Configurable Air Transport

  • AT/AAR merger: Through need or design?
  • MRTT the next step for all cargo aircraft
  • Meeting operational requirements through a combined AT/AAR fleet

Mike Snead
Independent Aerospace Consultant

15.20 Coffee And Networking Lunch

Interactive Panel Session

15.50 The Future Of Air To Air Refuelling

  • Keeping the current fleet flying
  • Maintaining the existing operational tempo
  • Preparing for future technology

16.30 Assessing The Cost-Effectiveness Of Modernizing The KC-10 To Meet Global Air Traffic Management Mandates

  • Without modernisation, the U.S. Air Force’s KC-10 air refuelling fleet will not be in compliance with upcoming air traffic mandates regulating the minimum capabilities of aircraft flying in certain regions and altitudes
  • A loss of access to optimal airspace and routings would increase costs and degrade the KC-10’s wartime effectiveness by precluding the aircraft from flying the most fuel-efficient altitudes and routings in civil air traffic systems
  • A detailed analysis of the cost-effectiveness of KC-10 modernisation showed that, overall, the upgrades would result in net cost avoidance
  • The findings show that even under a worst-case cost scenario, the savings resulting from KC-10 fleet modernization would exceed the cost of the upgrade long before the fleet is retired in 2045

Anthony Rosello
Senior Engineer
RAND

Sean Bednarz
Engineer
RAND

17.10 Chairman’s Close

17.20 End Of Conference