[Tyler]

Autonomous aerial refueling between UAVs
     



 




 Northrop Grumman made a major step towards autonomous aerial refueling
between two UAVs. Two aircraft, the manned high
altitude Proteus and one of NASA’s RQ-4 Global Hawks simulated refueling
maneuvers while flying at 45.000ft. The two aircraft came as close as
40ft distance and they evaluated the flight control system response and
engine performance at such high altitude. These tests are part of the
KQ-X program by DARPA that will demonstrate autonomous aerial refueling
between two Global Hawks in 2012. The refueling will take place at
60.000ft (double the usual flying altitude of a typical airliner) and at
a speed of around 160kt, where thin air and low dynamic pressure makes
for very challenging conditions. More information after the jump.
   

http://robots.net/article/3120.html