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The hope was to eliminate the need to have an airman lying down in the back of the plane manually flying the boom to connect to the receiver aircraft, as a step
by dharmab 3y ago
The hope was to eliminate the need to have an airman lying down in the back of the plane manually flying the boom to connect to the receiver aircraft, as a step towards drone tankers. This did not pan out as hoped.
- sandworm101 3y agoDrone tankers are already a thing. The US navy has done it. This is about drone boom tankers, something that is specific to USAF. Many countries are happy with basket aar. It has some advantages over booms. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boeing_MQ-25_Stingray https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boeing_MQ-25_Stingray
- nradov 3y agoThose other countries are generally only refueling small tactical aircraft. The USAF has to also refuel large cargo aircraft and strategic bombers, so they want higher flow rates that only a large boom can deliver.
- sandworm101 3y agoRussia refuels the Blackjack with a basket, the world's largest combat aircraft.
- dharmab 3y agoRussia only has 16 Blackjacks. The US flies and refuels many more than that during a single sortie. The basket is about three times slower than the boom, which multiples when refueling many aircraft.