Airbus has demonstrated the ability to perform an automated air-to-air refueling of a combat aircraft by an airborne tanker with a refueling boom, the company announces on 9 May.
With the refueling boom set on automatic mode, an Airbus Defence and Space A310 flying testbed made six contacts with a Portuguese Air Force Lockheed Martin F-16 flying at 270kt and 25,000ft over the Atlantic Ocean on 21 March during a 1h15min test period.
“This represents a fundamental advance in boom [automatic air-to-air refueling] operations, with the promise of increasing the rate of contacts, notably reducing operator workload, and enhancing safety,” says Miquel Gasco, head of Airbus DS’s Incubator Laboratory.
Automated refueling has been a technology pursuit by various air forces over the last 15 years. The US Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL) launched a technology programme in 2004. Three years later, the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency demonstrated automated refueling with a conventional tanker aircraft. The US military has not made the capability operational, but the navy has proposed using unmanned air vehicles to refuel carrier-based fighters on long-range missions.
Airbus devised a system that is based on cameras to detect and track the refueling port on the receiving aircraft. The imagery is then analysed using software that Airbus developed for refueling satellites in space.
A video released by Airbus showed the tanker delivering fuel in a variety of visual conditions, beginning with a daylight refueling. A subsequent test showed the receiving F-16 lined up behind the tanker in front of a setting sun, creating a visually challenging target for the cameras to detect and track the receiver report. The F-16 also received fuel from the A310 tanker at night.
“The most important thing was that the system could track the receptacle,” says David Piatti, Airbus’ test air refueling operator. “It will certainly reduce workload, especially in degraded weather conditions.”
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Source: FlightGlobal.com
