Format AIT Tape using Windows Backup

I am currently maintaining a voice recording system, which performs its backup on AIT tapes. The program that I use to initiate the audio backup encrypts on the tape that it will not be overwritten for 99 months. But I need to reuse the tapes after only 3 months. A colleague of mine told me that I could possibly overwrite the tape using OS backup (Start -> Programs -> Accessories -> System Tools -> Backup), but I cannot see any option to format the AIT tape (I only see backup, restore, and create a boot disk option). Plus, I cannot access the AIT tape in the Backup tool because the files that it backs up comes from an unformatted drive (for security purposes), so it doesn’t display the drive (same as unformatted HDDs). The version of the OS is Win2k Pro.