The Spanish Air Force's long flight to Australia from inside an A330 MRTT

Two weeks ago, the Spanish Air Force sent an Expeditionary Air Group to Australia.

The RAAF shows the Spanish Air Force aircraft that have arrived in Australia
The complicated deployment of eleven Spanish military aircraft in northern Australia

This is one of the longest air deployments ever undertaken by Spain. This Expeditionary Air Group includes the participation of the two A330 MRTTs from the 45th Wing of the Spanish Air Force (the delivery of another aircraft is planned, at least for now). Last year we were able to see the inside of this multi-purpose tanker aircraft, which is currently the largest military aircraft in Spain, measuring 59 meters long, with a wingspan of 60.3 meters and a height of 17.9 meters.

The A330 MRT is also the longest-range and highest-capacity military aircraft operated by Spain. It has an endurance of over 18 hours of flight and a range of 16,000 kilometers. It can carry up to 111 tons of fuel, 300 soldiers, or 37 tons of cargo in its lower hold. Today we have the opportunity to see one of these aircraft in action from the inside during this long flight to Australia, thanks to a video published this Thursday by the Spanish Air Force (the video is in Spanish; you can activate automatic English subtitles in the player):

In addition to transporting personnel and cargo for this deployment, the two Spanish A330 MRTTs sent to Australia have also played an important role as tanker aircraft, supplying fuel in flight to the Eurofighter Typhoons that are part of this Expeditionary Air Group.

As indicated in the video, eleven in-flight refuelings were carried out on this trip: one on the way to Greece, two to Oman, six to Malaysia and two to Australia.

For these refueling tasks, the Spanish A330 MRTTs have two Cobham 905E gondolas under the wings, both of the hose and drogue system, which supplies fuel to the receiving aircraft through a long hose deployed from the tanker aircraft.

In the video, we can also see the Air Refueling Console (ARC), located in the aircraft cockpit, just behind the pilot and copilot's seats. The image shows its operator, the Air Refueling Operator (ARO), seated with their back to the pilots. Above, we can see the monitors displaying the images captured by the EVS cameras. This console is programmed to refuel 25 different types of aircraft.

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Main photo: Royal Australian Air Force. Other images: Airbus Defence and Space / Ejército del Aire.