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Omega Aerial Refueling Services is a company that provides
Omega Air Refueling Services
official site Air refueling Defense companies of the United States {{US-airline-stub
Omega Aerial Refueling Services is a company that provides aerial refueling
Aerial refueling, also referred to as air refueling, in-flight refueling (IFR), air-to-air refueling (AAR), and tanking, is the process of transferring aviation fuel from one aircraft (the tanker) to another (the receiver) while both aircraft a ...
services for military customers. According to the company's website, Omega developed the first commercial aerial refueling aircraft in 1999, and has provided aerial refueling services under contract to the United States Navy
The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage ...
since 2001. The company has also been engaged to support Royal Australian Air Force
"Through Adversity to the Stars"
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training exercises due to delays in delivery of KC-30A tankers. In addition, Omega Air Refueling states it has been contracted to support deployments by the Royal Air Force
The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the United Kingdom's air and space force. It was formed towards the end of the First World War on 1 April 1918, becoming the first independent air force in the world, by regrouping the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) an ...
and the Royal Canadian Air Force
The Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF; french: Aviation royale canadienne, ARC) is the air and space force of Canada. Its role is to "provide the Canadian Forces with relevant, responsive and effective airpower". The RCAF is one of three environm ...
.
In October 2011, the company took delivery of three additional Boeing 707-338Cs from the Royal Australian Air Force.
On 22 April 2015 one of Omega's KC-707s refuelled a Northrop Grumman X-47B
The Northrop Grumman X-47B is a demonstration unmanned combat aerial vehicle (UCAV) designed for aircraft carrier-based operations. Developed by the American defense technology company Northrop Grumman, the X-47 project began as part of DARP ...
. The US Navy told the media this was the first time an unmanned aerial vehicle
An unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV), commonly known as a drone, is an aircraft without any human pilot, crew, or passengers on board. UAVs are a component of an unmanned aircraft system (UAS), which includes adding a ground-based controll ...
had been refuelled in flight.
In November 2019 it was announced that two KDC-10
The McDonnell Douglas KC-10 Extender is an American aerial refueling tanker aircraft operated by the United States Air Force (USAF). A military version of the three-engine DC-10 airliner, the KC-10 was developed from the Advanced Tanker Cargo A ...
Tankers from the Royal Netherlands Air Force
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would be acquired and as such additional capacity would be added, including ' boom capability' in addition to the existing ' hose and drogue' of the existing fleet. The aircraft were bought in 1995 by the RNLAF from Martinair
Martinair (legally ''Martinair Holland N.V.'') is a Dutch cargo airline headquartered and based at Amsterdam Airport Schiphol and a subsidiary of Air France–KLM. The airline was founded in 1958 by Martin Schröder. Since 2011, Martinair has o ...
as civilian
Civilians under international humanitarian law are "persons who are not members of the armed forces" and they are not " combatants if they carry arms openly and respect the laws and customs of war". It is slightly different from a non-combatant ...
DC-10
The McDonnell Douglas DC-10 is an American trijet wide-body aircraft manufactured by McDonnell Douglas.
The DC-10 was intended to succeed the DC-8 for long-range flights. It first flew on August 29, 1970; it was introduced on August 5, 19 ...
passenger
A passenger (also abbreviated as pax) is a person who travels in a vehicle, but does not bear any responsibility for the tasks required for that vehicle to arrive at its destination or otherwise operate the vehicle, and is not a steward. Th ...
airliners. The planes were converted to tanker aircraft
This is a list of tanker aircraft used for aerial refuelling of another aircraft whilst in powered flight.
Refueling methods
;Looped hose: The first commercial method employed a hose which was held slack in a trailing half-loop behind both air ...
. Because the planes were getting older and the RNLAF bought two A330 MRTT
The Airbus A330 Multi Role Tanker Transport (MRTT) is a European aerial refuelling and military transport aircraft based on the civilian Airbus A330. A total of 16 countries have placed firm orders for approximately 68 aircraft, of which 51 h ...
from Airbus
Airbus SE (; ; ; ) is a European multinational aerospace corporation. Airbus designs, manufactures and sells civil and military aerospace products worldwide and manufactures aircraft throughout the world. The company has three divisions: '' ...
, they sold their older tankers to Omega Air Refueling.
The first of the two tankers that were sold, T-264 Prins Bernard, departed on Monday, November 4, 2019, from Eindhoven Air Base in the Netherlands.
Fleet
, Omega Aerial Refueling Services operates one Boeing KC-707s and one McDonnell Douglas KDC-10s. They are currently converting one 707-320 (reg. N707GF), a former Romanian VIP transport and two DC 10-30/40s (regs. N264DE and N235UL), former Royal Netherlands Air Force tankers.Accidents and incidents
On 18 May 2011 one of the company'sKC-707
The Boeing 707 is an American, long-range, narrow-body airliner, the first jetliner developed and produced by Boeing Commercial Airplanes.
Developed from the Boeing 367-80 prototype first flown in 1954, the initial first flew on December 20, ...
tankers, N707AR, was destroyed after it crashed on takeoff from Naval Base Ventura County in California. All three crew members survived.References
External links
Omega Air Refueling Services
official site Air refueling Defense companies of the United States {{US-airline-stub