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Just for clarity because the title is a bit muddy: This is the first time an unmanned drone has refueled a manned aircraft. Specifically, a prototype of the N
by avs733 5y ago
Just for clarity because the title is a bit muddy:
This is the first time an unmanned drone has refueled a manned aircraft.
Specifically, a prototype of the Navy's future unmanned carrier based tanker drone transferred a small amount of fuel to a 2 seat F-18 super hornet. They used a 'probe and drogue' or 'basket' style refueling where the receiving jet initiates contact.
The Navy demonstrated the reverse capability...unmanned drone receiving fuel from a manned tanker aircraft...in 2015.
more details and history: https://www.thedrive.com/the-war-zone/40955/the-navys-tanker-drone-makes-history-by-refueling-a-manned-aircraft-for-the-first-time https://www.thedrive.com/the-war-zone/40955/the-navys-tanker...
- adolph 5y agoPrior to that, in 2012, DARPA’s Autonomous High-Altitude Refueling program demonstrated fully autonomous aerial refueling of unmanned air vehicles at high altitude. This culminated with two modified RQ-4 Global Hawkdrones flying in close formation to test probe-and-drogue contacts, as seen in this video: https://www.thedrive.com/the-war-zone/40955/the-navys-tanker-drone-makes-history-by-refueling-a-manned-aircraft-for-the-first-time https://www.thedrive.com/the-war-zone/40955/the-navys-tanker...
- engineer_22 5y agoThis refers, I think, to a drone being refueled by a manned aircraft. The roles have now reversed.