Fleet Air Arm aircraft refuellers upgraded

Vehicles used to refuel Fleet Air Arm aircraft have been refurbished to give them an extra 15 years of life.

The project supports Merlin and Wildcat helicopters and Avenger propeller-driven trainers at RNAS Culdrose and RNAS Yeovilton. 

The Large Capacity Aircraft Refueller Life Extension Project (LCAR LEP) is upgrading 80 tankers to improve deployability, availability and flexibility.

The project is a collaboration between DE&S, the RAF and an industry consortium led by Terberg DTS UK, which includes lorry firm MAN UK and Tasca Tankers Ltd.

The 20,000l-capacity trucks – that’s enough fuel to fill the tanks of six Merlins or more than 500 family cars – supply the bulk of the fuel for RAF, Royal Navy and British Army aircraft. 

The Life Extension Project is refurbishing 80 LCARs, which were unable to be driven on UK roads while laden with fuel because they didn’t comply with road transport regulations. 

Improvements have included making them compliant by replacing the single-skin fuel tank with a double-skinned one. 

Last summer, successful ground and on-aircraft refuelling trials were completed with aircraft including Typhoon fighter jets, Poseidon maritime patrol aircraft, Hawk jets and Merlin helicopters.