During tests in 2013, the Calspan Learjet 25 fitted with a refueling probe and with X-47B's avionics, autonomously connected with a KC-707 tanker as if it were refueling operationally.

DARPA), in a joint effort with NASA Dryden Flight Research Center, performed the first-ever autonomous probe-and-drogue airborne refueling operation on August 30, ...

"The total included 13 boom contacts and nearly 90,000 pounds of fuel offloaded, providing both aerial refueling training for the RC-135 and E-3 crews." One of Metrea's KC-135Rs in 2020.

According to Aviation Week, U.S. engineers will soon demonstrate the first in-flight docking of two unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) while continuing the development of an autonomous aerial ...

At the moment of probe contact with the drogue, the drag force on the drogue decreases due to loss of tension, resulting in erratic motion of the refueling hose. This may lead to critical damage to ...

Aerial refueling is a standard operation, but a challenging and critical one, ... The US Navy is planning to have the probe-and-drogue refueling drone integrated into a carrier air wing by 2024.

The Aerial Refueling Certification Agency, located at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio, has approved a redesigned refueling probe light on F-35 B and C models, a decision that will soon clear ...

Booms can pump gas faster, at around 6,000 pounds per minute, while a probe and drogue pumps at less than half that rate. (The most common American tanker, the KC-135 , can hold up to 200,000 ...