Lockheed and Airbus sign aerial refueling agreement

Lockheed Martin and Airbus said today they have signed an agreement "to jointly explore opportunities to meet the growing demand for aerial refueling for U.S. defense customers."

"The companies will seek to provide aerial-refueling services to address any identified capacity shortfall and to meet requirements for the next generation of tankers capable of operating in the challenging environments of future battlespace," the companies said.

The companies said their "cooperative approach" has at its heart the Airbus A330 Multi Role Tanker Transport and that they will be examining "a broad spectrum of opportunities."

"These may range from ways to support critical near-term air-refueling needs, such as a fee-for-service structure to conceptualizing the tanker of the future," they added.