Italy settles on Airbus tanker purchase in swing toward European equipment

ROME — Italy is to buy six Airbus A330 MRTT multi-role tanker transport aircraft in a €1.4 billion ($1.6 billion) deal after 15 years of flying Boeing tankers.

The purchase, which was announced by the European Union’s TED public procurement platform, envisages ten years of logistic support and indicates the A330 was the only aircraft in the bidding.

The deal marks a shift from Boeing to Airbus for the Italian Air Force, which flies four Boeing 767-based tanker aircraft which entered service from 2011.

In 2021 Italy announced plans to upgrade its B-767 tankers and purchase two more, but the following year Rome changed its plans, deciding instead to buy six new KC-46 aircraft.

In 2024, however, Italy started to consider Airbus after suspending plans to acquire the KC-46 tankers.

At the time, Italy stated the €1.1 billion KC-46 purchase had been halted “due to changed and unforeseen needs.”

At the time, Defense News reported the halting of the order was linked to cost and the promised delivery time of the new aircraft.

The Airbus order comes at a time when European militaries are seeking greater commonality and are warier of purchases of U.S. products as President Trump regularly disparages the traditional U.S.-Europe trans-Atlantic alliance.

France, Spain and the U..K are customers of the A330 MRTT while a host of other European nations fly the aircraft through NATO pooling.