Cobham enables F-35B aerial refueling

Cobham - the market leader in aerial refueling products and technologies - enabled the recently completed aerial refueling tests of the F-35B, the short-take-off-and-vertical-landing (STOVL) variant of the Joint Strike Fighter destined for the US Marine Corps, Royal Air Force and Royal Navy, and the Italian Air Force and Navy. During these tests, fuel was transferred from a KC-130 tanker equipped with Cobham aerial refueling pods, to an F-35 equipped with a Cobham aerial refueling probe.

Cobham Mission Equipment will provide the robust, light-weight, high-fuel rate probe to each F-35B and F-35C (carrier variant) via Parker Aerospace, the aircraft's lead fuel system designer and supplier. The retractable, 5.5 foot-long aluminum alloy probe is located on the right side of the forward fuselage. Cobham was selected to provide the probe in 2002, and qualified probes are now in production.

The US Navy and Marine Corps are scheduled to buy approximately 680 F-35Bs and F-35Cs, while the United Kingdom is expected to buy approximately 138 F-35Bs. Cobham also makes aerial refuelling probes for the Harrier jump jet, the Gripen multi-role fighter, and the V-22 Osprey tiltrotor aircraft.

Beyond probes, Cobham is also the market leader in aerial refuelling pods. There are today more than 150 US Marine Corps KC-130s and US Air Force C-130 tanker tankers equipped with various models of Cobham pods. In addition, Cobham aerial refueling pods also equip strategic tankers such as the KC-10s and KC-135s used by the USAF, and the A330 for Australia, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, and the United Kingdom.