Design of a Multirole Jet Transport Tanker Aircraft

Abstract

Tanker aircraft are one of the most important pillars of every nation’s air force, supporting remote operations and allowing a fast deployment and operation of different type of military aircraft which perform aerial refueling. Airbus A330 MRTT and Boeing KC-46A Pegasus are the current leading tanker aircraft in service, which are manufactured from commercial aircraft conversion processes. This project describes the complete preliminary design and analysis of a new multirole jet transport tanker aircraft which aims to be highly versatile and efficient, combining the best attributes from modern airliners and military tanker aircraft including some of the latest techniques, technological means, engineering solutions and state-of-the-art systems which are used in aviation industry. Modern tools are used in the elaboration of this project, making use of advanced engineering software to support the design, optimization and analysis process of this tanker aircraft, called “LT-018 Archangel”.