The Indian air force picked Airbus Military’s A330 tanker as its preferred option to fulfill its requirement for six modernized tanker aircraft, announced the company. “This has been a long and tough competition and we are honored to have been selected,” said Airbus Military CEO Domingo Raso in the company’s Jan. 11 release. “We are fully committed to the next stage of the negotiations” which should result in a contract later this year, he added. Airbus’ aerial refueler beat out Russian competitor Ilyushin’s Il-78 tanker in a series of flight trials that saw the aircraft operating from high-altitude forward operating bases and refueling several IAF fighter types, reported UPI last year. The final tanker deal could be worth upwards of $2 billion, according to that press report. India would be the fifth country to operate the Airbus tanker, said the company.
Due to the prolonged delay in deliveries of the Tech Refresh 3 version of the F-35 fighter, Denmark is pulling six of its TR-2-configured F-35 jets stationed in the U.S. back to home base in order to consolidate aircraft and get better training for its pilots and maintainers, the Danish…