The U.S. Marine Corps is moving ahead with plans to pursue the V-22 Aerial Refueling System (VARS) for its MV-22 Osprey tilt-rotor transport aircraft.
VARS will be able to supply fuel to other aircraft, including CH-53E/K heavy-lift helicopters, other MV-22s, F/A-18 fighters, AV-8B Harriers and ultimately F-35 fighters, according to Naval Air Systems Command (NAVAIR).
The system is scheduled to achieve an initial operational capability by fiscal year 2018. By 2019, its capacity will reach 10,000 pounds of fuel, up from an initial 4,000 pounds. VARS will have a “roll-on, roll-off” capability, meaning it can be moved from one Osprey to another.
A program official said in 2016 that having the Bell Helicopter Textron [TXT]-Boeing [BA] MV-22 refuel fighter jets would ease the burden on the Marine Corps’ overtaxed KC-130 tankers.
The Bell-Boeing team is under contract to develop VARS. In 2013, the industry partners conducted a demonstration in which a V-22 extended and retracted a refueling drogue as F/A-18s flew nearby.