Drone refuels mid-flight US military aircraft

The United States Navy first used a refueling drone to refuel an F / A-18E-F Super Hornet fighter jet, the Pentagon reported on Tuesday.

The unprecedented test was carried out on June 4 with a Boeign MQ-25 Stingray drone. from MidAmerica Airport in Mascoutah, Illinois.

“The mission demonstrated that the unmanned tanker can successfully use the proven in-flight refueling method.“said the Ministry of Defense.

“This flight lays the foundations for integration in the context of aircraft carriers and allows greater capacity for the combined use of manned and unmanned vehicles”said Program Officer Rear Admiral Brian Corey.

During the test, A Hornet approached up to six meters from the drone for the two crew members to take measurements and observe various characteristics of the robot, explained Dave Bujold, director of the MQ-27 program, quoted by the Pentagon.

“They wanted to see how stable the flight was near the unmanned vehicle,” he added, and said: “They wanted to officially observe, with their own eyes, the behavior of the tanker and the refueling pod.”

The two Hornet crews from 23 Test and Evaluation Squadron were in radio contact with the operator of MQ-25. who controlled the aircraft from a ground station.

After the operator deploys the unmanned vehicle’s hose and nacelle, the Hornet approached for a test connection, in which no fuel was passed from the tanker to the fighter plane.

During the second connection, there was a transfer of 135 kilograms of fuel from the MQ-25 to the Hornet while both were flying at approximately 3,050 meters altitude and at normal operating speed.

The two planes made more than 10 minutes of connection.

The mission, which lasted about four and a half hours, ended with another transfer of about 10 kilograms of fuel at an altitude of 4,880 meters.

(with information from the EFE)

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