Yesterday, March 19, at the "de Bernardis" military airport in Pratica di Mare (RM), thanks to the increasingly strong and dynamic collaboration between Boeing and the Italian Air Force, the American company organized an event linked to the KC-767A , to demonstrate and explain how important the synergy between industry and the armed force is. The Pratica di Mare headquarters is not accidental because, inside the second European military airport, there is also the 14th Wing which, as remembered by its commander, Colonel Antonio Caruso, has a unique peculiarity within the Air Force Military, or having 4 flight lines: Piaggio P180, Beachcraft 350, Gulfstream G450 and last, but not least, Boeing KC-767A.
The plane built by the Seattle-based company was at the center of the event: the tanker is an appreciated and versatile platform, a jewel resulting from the close collaboration between Boeing and the Italian Air Force. This dynamic, in addition to allowing the 14th Wing to achieve the objectives set in terms of efficiency and operability, also provides great advantages to the market and the national industry. The president of Boeing Italy, Antonio De Palmas, wanted to underline how important the related returns are for Italy in this collaboration: "We have almost 50 people working directly to the program, of which 30 related to the national industry needed to carry out a maintenance part".
"With the KC-767A program - continued De Palmas - the industrial return reached a value close to one billion euros". Important figures, but showing how, together with the project for the aircraft, a series of projects have been financed involving Italian companies, especially small and medium-sized ones. This: "He left a value on the territory remarkable", Concluded the president of Boeing Italia.
The collaboration with Aeronautica Militare allows Boeing to continue to grow, not only in sales but also, and above all, in terms of technological innovations and customer relations. Relationships that are at the base, as explained by Sergio Parisi, the Boeing Global Services International Government Services, Southern Europe Manager, of the PBL contractual agreement (Performance-Based Logistics, ed), which directly allows the customer to indicate to the company the objectives to be achieved. A contract for certain aspects that revolutionizes the traditional paradigms: with the PBL the company is paid according to the objectives achieved. And the "risk" of paying penalties is minimal, especially if it is compared to what this type of contract gives in exchange to Boeing, forcing it to provide vehicles in perfect condition and to understand where to intervene in a preventive manner. Two points that actually give a great technological advantage and further prestige to the American company.
The Full PBL, the type of contract chosen by the Ministry of Defense for the acquisition of KC-767A, is not limited to the sale of the vehicle, in fact it also provides that Boeing takes over most of the activities related to the operational life of the vehicle, dealing with maintenance, logistical support and staff training. Thanks to this contract the customer has many advantages, first of all economically because a large part of the risk of the initial investment is taken directly from the company and the costs for the Armed Forces or for the private are diluted over time, given that the PBL it's long-term.
In addition to the contractual aspects, the focus of the appointment was the KC-767A (aircraft based on the civilian version 767-200), a strategically fundamental vehicle for the Italian Air Force. The reason for this importance lies in the possibilities of using the vehicle. It can be configured in three versions: a CARGO, in which 19 standard NATO military pallets can be loaded (for about 30 tons of cargo), a FULL PAX, where up to 200 passengers can be loaded, and a last COMBI, in which it is 100 passengers and 10 standard NATO military pallets (approximately 27.6 tons of cargo) can be loaded.
The real "extra weapon" of the KC-767A, however, is the possibility of refueling air-air (AAR, air to air refueling) which is carried out thanks to 2 wing pods, capable of refueling 1.818 liters per minute, the central tube and basket pod, capable of pouring into the aircraft tank to be refueled up to 2.727 liters per minute, and, finally, to the " Central Boom ”, which has a flushing capacity of up to 4.091 liters per minute. To best describe it, it is necessary to take the words of Rob Abernothy, director of the Boeing Tanker program, namely: “The KC-767 is a universal vehicle”.
A pillar for the international projection of the air force, not only national but of all NATO, which thanks to the ability of Boeing has led, over the years ranging from 2013 to 2017, results to say the least exceptional, thanks to the close relationship between Italy and the US headquarters of the aerospace giant.
Also thanks to the Full PBL contract signed in the acquisition of the KC-767A it was possible, for Boeing, to make available 75.6% of the 4 aircraft supplied to the Air Force, or 3 tanker operating thanks to the 97.7% of problems in advance thanks to the preventive maintenance.
Up to now, 5.975 missions have been carried out for a total of 22.756 flight hours and 98.7% of these have been successfully performed. Impressive data that confirm Boeing's ability to equip the Air Force with always ready and efficient vehicles, something that without this type of agreement would have been difficult to achieve.
The intention is to extend the expiring contract in the 2019 for another two years and, in the near future, switch to a Full PBL also on the CH-47 Chinook, under the Italian Army, where Boeing could consolidate a tradition that sees it already engaged with this type of contract in the United Kingdom, where the results are similar to those obtained with the KC-767A in Italy.
A service that is becoming fundamental in the market. In the future, this logistic and maintenance support contract will most likely become the norm, especially judging by the results obtained with the KC-767A.
Also read "In flight with the KC-767A of the Italian Air Force"
(photo: author / Boeing / Defense)
