Posted on 06/10/2021 10:14:51 AM PDT by White Lives Matter
An unmanned tanker drone successfully refueled a fighter jet in mid-air during a test flight on Friday.
The impressive feat, which involved a Navy F/A-18 Super Hornet, demonstrated the significant potential of unmanned tanker drones and could mark the beginning of the end for traditional piloted tanker aircraft.
During the test flight, the drone - a Boeing-built device named MQ-25 Stingray - maintained its altitude and speed as the hose extended and the two aircraft briefly linked up to exchange fuel.
The test was carried out from the MidAmerica St. Louis Airport in Mascoutah, Illinois.
In total, 325lbs of fuel was transferred during the flight which lasted 4.5 hours.
(Excerpt) Read more at unexplained-mysteries.com ...
Yep... now hopefully they will insure no jihadists can hack these drones and use them as cruise missiles in a drone version of 9/11.
I hope the Super Hornet gets better gas mileage that the old C-Models because they would burn up half there fuel on the Flight Deck. I had CAG (Commander Air Group) sitting on Cat-1 on the U.S.S. George Washington CVN-73 and winds shifted by the time I locked him in for launch, there was a S-3 Viking overhead trailing a gas line.
Forget about airplanes. How about a drone that can refuel my car on the Interstate.
Yes, proof of concept doesnt require full refuelling
It requires exactly what itmproved, that it can be done
Now that would be something!
“Could also allow aircraft to be aloft indefinitely.”
Nope. Oil still has a short life.
Yep, it is all BS to replace ALL men with machines, etc.!!
The CIA is the “jihadists”, etc. planners/funders/ringleaders/etc.
They probably burned that much during the process. But…you have to start somewhere.
Drones have had that stuff covered for a couple of decades.
No need for electric fighters the Navy has already successfully made and flown on electric power made jet fuel that’s actually higher in density and has a lower cloud point to JP8 in English that means it’s a superior fuel in every way to fossil JP8. They intend on using the carriers nuclear reactor to power the process removing the need for a fleet oiler to sail half way around the world into hostile water and deliver JP8/5.
“In 2014, a Naval Research Laboratory team led by Heather Willauer announced it had used a catalytic converter to extract carbon dioxide and hydrogen from seawater and then converted the gases into liquid hydrocarbons at a 92 percent efficiency rate.”
It is possible to change the oil while the engine is running...
But I do get your point. It’s not only fuel that is the limiting factor for indefinite airtime.
he test was carried out from the MidAmerica St. Louis Airport in Mascoutah, Illinois.
AKA Scott Air Force Base.
Probe & Drogue.
I know the dif, I was asking how the refueling aircraft (presumably a Hornet) closed the control loop to autonomously refuel in flight. I am still curious as to the answer.
24 hours is about the realistic flight. I’ve seen 72, but about then thing really break.
” was asking how the refueling aircraft (presumably a Hornet) closed the control loop to autonomously refuel in flight. “
Modified garage door openers?
tanker junkies
The CIA plays both sides, and the CIA does LOTS LOTS LOTS of EVIL than anyone can ever imagine.
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