VC10 & Tornado F3s
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As of 2002, the RAF had 19 of its 4-engined VC10 aerial tankers in service. These sleek aircraft with the unusual engine arrangement form the backbone of its aerial tanker fleet, and will continue to do so for about another decade until the new Airbus A330 MRTTs fully enter service as part of a pathbreaking private-public partnership deal.

Meanwhile, the RAF continues to pursue its “future contracting for availability” approach across its fleets, which aims to pay for available equipment, not man-hours and spare parts. This includes the VC10s, who have now reached the final stage of their own program…

The UK’s VC10 Fleet

VC10 air tanker
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The RAF’s 19 Vickers VC10s are famous for having 4 engines – 2 mounted on each side of their rear fuselage. This has the happy side-effect of minimizing turbulence for pilots taking up refueling stations behind the wings. They are equipped with a probe-and-drogue refueling system capable of refueling 2 aircraft simultaneously from the 2 underwing pods; they can also use the single fuselage-mounted Hose Drum Unit (HDU). Unlike the Tristars, the VC10s can also be refueled themselves, thanks to the installation of a probe in their nose. The aircraft comes in 3 tanker versions:

The VC10-C.1Ks (11 serving as of 2002) were converted to the aerial refueling role in 1993 with the fitting of a Mk32 refueling pod under the outboard section of each wing. They carry their internal fuel, and can also accommodate 124 troops plus 9 crew, or aero-medical evacuation of up to 68 stretchers. A large, cabin-freight door on the forward left side of the aircraft allows combi passenger/freight or full-freight configuration. In its full-freight role, the cabin can hold up to 20,400 kg/ 22.4 tons of palletized freight, ground equipment or vehicles, on its permanently strengthened floor. They were operated by 10 Squadron, until 10 Squadron was disbanded in October 2005. All VC10s are now operated by 101 Squadron.

The RAF’s 4 VC10-K.3s are equipped with fuselage fuel tanks mounted in the passenger compartment, and can carry up to 78,000 kg of fuel. The aircraft has a very limited passenger-carrying capacity used almost exclusively to carry ground crew and other operational support personnel.

The RAF’s 4 VC10-K.4s carry 69,800 kg of fuel using their original 8 fuel tanks, and add another 1,750 gallon tank in the fin. The aircraft had been purchased in 1981 from British Airways, and were converted by BAe in 1990. These VC10s went through almost a complete rebuild, emerging without the airframe fatigue flight restrictions placed on many of the other VC10s in the fleet. The K.3s and K.4s are operated by 101 Squadron.

The VC10s have been out of production for well over 20 years.

The JAVELIN Program

VC10 air tanker
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The Joint Approach to VC10 Engineering and Logistics INtegration (JAVELIN) began with the original GBP 207 million JAVELIN Red program, signed in 2003. BAE Systems took responsibility for providing spares and inclusive major maintenance of the VC10 fleet at DARA St Athan in partnership with the UK’s Defence Aviation Repair Agency (DARA), and supporting first and second-line maintenance at RAF Brize Norton.

JAVELIN Amber, a GBP 38 million contract extension agreed in mid-2005, transferred second-line maintenance to St. Athan, established the forward and depth maintenance arrangements agreed with the MoD, transferred additional responsibilities for fleet maintenance and maintenance policy to BAE Systems, and offered contract incentives based on aircraft availability.

The June 2007 GBP 123 million (about $245 million) contract modification extended those arrangements to the VC10s’ out of service date, currently planned for “the middle of the next decade.” The final A330 MRTT aircraft is expected to enter service in 2016, which places the likely phase-out date around 2015-2017.

It also paved the way for the next phase, JAVELIN Green. This will be a full “future contracting for availability” contract under which ready-to-go aircraft are made available to the front lines at agreed-upon level, for the system’s remaining service life, under a pre-agreed budget.

In May 2008, BAE Systems announced that JAVELIN Green had been reached with a 5-year contract worth GBP 43.9 million, based on availability metrics, wherein BAE Systems will take responsibility for much of the ‘on-base’ VC10 engineering, logistics and technical support, including engineering bays at RAF Brize Norton and Oxfordshire which are currently managed by Serco. The contract includes post-design services, air refuelling equipment, spares and spares inclusive repairs as well as the disposal of airframes at the end of their service life.

Additional Readings & Sources

• RAF – VC10

• Vector Site – The Vickers (BAC) VC10

• Air Scene UK – Ten’s Tens Are Forty! The VC10 began deliveries in 1962; a total of only 54 were produced, 15 for the RAF. Subsequent purchases from other operators, including a far-sighted purchase of 14 aircraft from British Airways in 1981, have kept the RAF’s numbers up.