Editing Future Strategic Tanker Aircraft (section)

==Development==
The Ministry of Defence announced on 6 June 2007 that AirTanker had been given the approval it needed to continue with the project, allowing the company to seek the £2&nbsp;billion private financing required to begin funding the aircraft.  On 27 March 2008, a PFI deal was agreed with AirTanker, worth £10.5&nbsp;billion over the course of the contract, and will involve fourteen converted A330-200 aircraft, being delivered from 2011, and being operated until at least 2035.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.flightglobal.com/articles/2010/10/15/348481/airtanker-fsta-preparations-on-track.html|title=AirTanker: FSTA preparations on track|website=FlightGlobal.com|publisher=[[FlightGlobal]]|date=15 October 2010|access-date=16 October 2010}}</ref>  The contract will be paid for at £390&nbsp;million per annum.  Of this, running costs are £80&nbsp;million, and the remainder covers the consortium's financing and profit<ref>"EADS you lose" In the Back, ''Private Eye'' No. 1260</ref> and the capital cost of the project, including aircraft and infrastructure.<ref name="NAO">{{Cite web|url=http://www.nao.org.uk/publications/0910/tanker_aircraft.aspx|title=Ministry of Defence: Delivering multi-role tanker aircraft capability|website=NAO.org.uk|publisher=[[National Audit Office (United Kingdom)|National Audit Office]]|date=30 March 2010|access-date=20 June 2012}}</ref>

All aircraft will be equipped with a pair of wing-mounted aerial-refuelling pods, while only seven FSTAs will be fitted for centreline flight refuelling units (FRUs); each conversion will take about nine months.  The AirTanker facility is based at [[RAF Brize Norton]], where a two-bay hangar and support building will provide a maintenance facility, flight operations centre and office headquarters for the programme.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.airtanker.co.uk/news/fsta-voyager-arrives-in-the-uk-for-the-first-time|title=FSTA (Voyager) arrives in the UK for the first time|website=AirTanker.co.uk|publisher=[[AirTanker Services|AirTanker Services Limited]]|access-date=5 November 2011}}</ref>  [[Lufthansa Technik]] will provide support, repair, and overhaul services.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.flightglobal.com/articles/2010/09/30/348004/lufthansa-technik-to-support-uks-fsta-fleet.html|title=Lufthansa Technik to support UK's FSTA fleet|website=FlightGlobal.com|publisher=[[FlightGlobal]]|date=30 September 2010|access-date=30 September 2010}}</ref>

The first two development aircraft went through a comprehensive military conversion process and initial flight testing programme at [[Airbus Military]]'s facility near Madrid.  It was intended that the remaining twelve aircraft destined for the FSTA fleet would be converted by Cobham Aviation Services at their facility in Bournemouth,<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.airtanker.co.uk/news/fsta-voyager-arrives-in-the-uk-for-the-first-time|title=FSTA (Voyager) arrives in the UK for the first time|website=AirTanker.co.uk|publisher=[[AirTanker Services|AirTanker Services Limited]]|access-date=5 November 2011}}</ref> but in June 2012, it was announced that the final ten aircraft would be converted in Spain to ensure that they were delivered on time and to cost.<ref name=R20120622>{{Cite news|last=Jones|first=Rhys|date=22 June 2012|url=https://www.reuters.com/article/cobham-idUSL5E8HM13S20120622|title=Britain loses Voyager work and 320 jobs to Spain|website=Reuters.com|publisher=[[Reuters]]}}</ref>  The first aircraft to be converted in the UK arrived at [[Bournemouth Airport]] on 26 August 2011.  Cobham held a ceremony to formally open the newly refurbished A330 conversion facility in Bournemouth on 2 September 2011.  In a naming ceremony at [[RAF Fairford]] during the 2011 [[Royal International Air Tattoo]], it was announced that the aircraft will be known as '[[Airbus Voyager|Voyager]]' in RAF service.<ref>{{Cite news|title=RAF's largest aircraft Voyager officially unveiled|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-14171910|website=BBC.co.uk|publisher=[[BBC News]]|date=16 July 2011|access-date=16 July 2011}}</ref>

In November 2010, it was suggested that the [[French Air Force]] might buy spare FSTA capacity.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.armees.com/L-Europe-de-la-defense-est-franco,34063.html|title=L'Europe de la défense est franco-britannique - ce n'est pas une première|access-date=10 November 2010|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101110093605/http://www.Armees.com/L-Europe-de-la-defense-est-franco,34063.html|archive-date=10 November 2010}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.number10.gov.uk/news/statements-and-articles/2010/11/uk%E2%80%93france-summit-2010-declaration-on-defence-and-security-co-operation-56519|title=UK–France Summit 2010 Declaration on Defence and Security Co-operation|website=Number10.gov.uk|publisher=[[10 Downing Street]]|date=November 2010|access-date=10 November 2010|quote=FSTA}}</ref>

The first completed aircraft arrived at RAF Brize Norton in December 2011; after a prolonged certification process, it began training flights in April 2012.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.airtanker.co.uk/news/voyager-achieves-its-first-flight-in-raf-service|title=Voyager achieves its first flight in RAF service|website=AirTanker.co.uk|publisher=[[AirTanker Services|AirTanker Services Limited]]|date=8 April 2012|access-date=20 June 2012|archive-date=31 January 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130131142015/http://www.AirTanker.co.uk/news/voyager-achieves-its-first-flight-in-raf-service|url-status=dead }}</ref>  Following technical issues with the new Cobham-designed High Speed-Variable Drag Drogue when refuelling the [[Panavia Tornado]], the drogues on the wing tip pods were replaced in early 2012 with standard [[Sargent Fletcher]] drogues, delaying the Release To Service clearance required to conduct air-to-air refuelling (AAR) operations.  Certification was finally granted on 16 May 2013, and the first operational tanker flight launched on 20 May 2013.<ref>{{Cite news|last=Osborne|first=Anthony|date=20 May 2013|url=http://www.aviationweek.com/Article.aspx?id=/article-xml/awx_05_20_2013_p0-580613.xml|title=AirTanker cleared to begin air-to-air refuelling operations|website=AviationWeek.com|publisher=[[Aviation Week]]|access-date=25 May 2013|archive-date=20 May 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130520230913/http://www.aviationweek.com/Article.aspx?id=/article-xml/awx_05_20_2013_p0-580613.xml|url-status=dead}}</ref>

The Voyager started test flights refuelling the F-35B in 2015, with certification expected by mid-June 2015.  This followed the Australian KC-30 variant completing refuelling trials with the F-35A in late 2015.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Drew|first=James|date=21 May 2016|url=https://www.flightglobal.com/news/articles/raf-voyager-begins-f-35b-refuelling-certification-425612/|title=RAF Voyager begins F-35B refuelling certification|website=FlightGlobal.com|publisher=[[Flight Global]]|access-date= }}</ref>