US Air Force Petroleum Agency (AFPA) researchers are to conduct demonstrations of how to use commercially available jet fuel (jet A fuel) instead of military standard JP-8 fuel for military aircraft.
If successful, the shift will decrease dependence on military-specification products, simplify the fuel supply chain and save money for the air force.
Demonstration will include the ability to inject military-specific fuel additives into jet A before use.
By injecting the fuel system icing inhibitor further forward in the supply chain, the quantities can be reduced by nearly 60%.
AFPA researchers are partnering with those in the fuel industry to test several additive injection systems at various points in the supply chain.
The demonstrations of jet A fuel versus JP-8 fuel will take place at Dover Air Force Base, Little Rock AFB, McChord AFB and Minneapolis-St Paul Air Reserve Station.
Each base has C-5 Galaxy, C-17 Globemaster III or C-130 Hercules primary-assigned aircraft.
The demonstrations will run for 12 months and will be followed by a business case analysis from data gathered to determine a future course of action.
