Tests show military drones could refuel themselves mid-air

[Jango]

U.S. military flight tests have shown how drones could handle midair refueling by themselves, without human pilots. That raises the possibility of automated "flying gas stations" topping off robotic aircraft over future battlefields.

The U.S. Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) recently flew two modified RQ-4 Global Hawk drones in close proximity to simulate midair refueling. The Global Hawks, huge drones with 131-foot wingspans used for high-altitude surveillance, flew in formation with less than 100 feet separating the refueling "probe" on one and refueling "receiver" on the other during a two-and-a-half hour flight test.

"The goal of this demonstration was to create the expectation that future [High Altitude Long Endurance] aircraft will be refueled in flight," said Jim McCormick, program manager at DARPA.


DARPA had kicked off its two-year Autonomous High-Altitude Refueling (AHR) program with the expectation that just one out of six aerial refueling attempts would prove successful. But the final analysis suggested drones could achieve a much better success rate of three out of five attempts.Neither Global Hawk drone needed human guidance during the final flight test at the high altitude of 44,800 feet (8 miles). The drones also maintained their tight formation despite turns and wind gusts of up to 23 mph.

The results from the AHR program that ended on Sept. 30 mean the U.S. military has a good chance of extending the duration and range of its drone swarms. Manned fighter jets and bombers already do midair refueling from standard tanker aircraft, but many drones can't match the speed, altitude or performance of existing tanker aircraft.

McCormick suggested that the drone flight-testing could lead to "non-traditional tanker concepts," perhaps a reference to automated drone tankers. Such an idea could work very well for the range of midsize or large drones that depend on jet fuel.

The U.S. military has also played with other refueling ideas for drones. Lasers could do midair recharging for smaller, battery-powered drones, such as the Stalker drone flown by U.S. Special Forces. Meanwhile, the U.S. Navy has plans for its aircraft-size X-47B drone — designed to take off and land on Navy aircraft carriers — to autonomously handle aerial refueling with standard tanker aircraft.

Tests show military drones could refuel themselves mid-air - FutureTech on NBCNews.com

 

[VCheng]

The next inevitable step would be remotely guided re-arming too, for truly unbroken coverage.

 

[Awesome]

The next inevitable step would be remotely guided re-arming too, for truly unbroken coverage.

Automated target selection too? Pretty much the same thing happens in Signature strikes.


Criteria 1... Check.
Criteria 2... Check.
Criteria 3... Check. Boom. Resistance is futile.

 

[Jango]

The next inevitable step would be remotely guided re-arming too, for truly unbroken coverage.

Inevitable, probably.

Coming within the next decade, unlikely.

 

[VCheng]

Automated target selection too? Pretty much the same thing happens in Signature strikes.


Criteria 1... Check.
Criteria 2... Check.
Criteria 3... Check. Boom. Resistance is futile.

The solution to avoiding drone strikes lies in clever policy, not technology.

Inevitable, probably.

Coming within the next decade, unlikely.

You would be surprised how quickly the future arrives.

Edit: Forgot to mention, automated target selection has been possible for several years now. A drone can match up a fact pretty quickly and accurately, if given that assignment. Launching a weapon is still manual, but the technology is there.

 

[Esc8781]

The US Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) has completed autonomous refuelling trials with two Northrop Grumman RQ-4 Global Hawks, demonstrating that unmanned air vehicles could refuel in mid-air.

The success of the experiment has the potential to revolutionise large UAV manufacturing and operations.

During the tests the two aircraft flew in close proximity in nine test flights. While the NASA-owned high-altitude, long-endurance (HALE) aircraft were never physically linked and no fuel was passed, DARPA's analysis shows that the aircraft could have done so on up to 60% of the attempts. The agency had anticipated a 17% success rate given the nature of the aircraft - capable of great altitude and endurance, but not manoeuverability - and the difficulty of precision flight at 44,000ft (13,400m), where the tests took place.

"The goal of this demonstration was to create the expectation that future HALE aircraft will be refuelled in flight," says Jim McCormick, DARPA programme manager. "Such designs should be more affordable to own and operate across a range of mission profiles than systems built to satisfy the most stressing case without refuelling."

The unusual refuelling system consisted of a hose-and-drogue used worldwide, however in this case the receiver deployed the hose, while the tanker would push fuel upwards. The fuel system was tested on the ground and certified as fully functional, but there are no imminent plans to actually transfer fuel in mid-air using these vehicles.