Air-to-Air Refueling (AAR) has thus far been an art that is performed manually. Although the involved skill and technology have proved to be an important “force-multiplier”, allowing receiver aircraft to be employed more efficiently, current capabilities are bound by the limitations in human performance.

Improvement on the present state of the art can be found in automation. Automation can offer significant AAR task performance increase beyond human ability. Automation can be implemented to various levels. Defensya has coined A3R®, for Automatic or Automated Air-to-Air Refueling, and A4R®, denoting Autonomous or Assisted, Automatic or Automated Air-to-Air.

Defensya defines these levels of automation as follows: A3R® constitutes boom/receptacle or probe/drogue AAR where the boom or hose-drogue system is not actively controlled by an operator. Other activities besides controlling of these respective Aerial Refueling (AR) conduits still make (partially) use of operator manipulation and the operator is still able to intervene and take control of the aerial refueling mechanism. A4R® constitutes boom/receptacle or probe/drogue AAR where neither the boom or hose-drogue system nor any other AAR system state transitions/activities are actively controlled by an operator. A tanker aircraft may or may not be flown unmanned by this definition.

Advantages of A3R® and A4R® present themselves in improved effectiveness through the ability to perform the AAR task more expeditiously and more accurately, while putting less strain on AR system components as well as through the ability to better deal with adverse environmental conditions that impair a human operator. Increased effectivity in turn translates into markedly more efficient AAR operations, where more fuel is available for transfer to receiver aircraft or otherwise saved.

An important part of Defensya’s portfolio is continued development of A3R® and A4R® enabling technologies. Defensya has extensive and diverse solutions available to make automation of AAR with performance surpassing that of manual AAR a realistic possibility today. This can be achieved without affecting a receiver aircraft’s design or enhanced to an even higher standard with benign, mildly invasive modification.

One such enhancing modification is inclusion of Boomerang® in the A3R®/A4R® system design solution. Boomerang® consists of enhancing precision in receptacle localizing and enabling AR system latencies to be lowered to such values that allow for AAR operations continuation even under very turbulent conditions.

Of note is Defensya’s Haptix® technology for manual AR boom control. Haptix® is an end-effector type of manual control, including haptic properties, allowing for a natural, entirely intuitive way of controlling AR boom movements to achieve contact with a receiver aircraft’s receptacle. Haptix® thus facilitates easier transition from manual AAR operations to A3R®, offering possibilities to significantly reduce training and currency requirements for Aerial Refueling Operators (AROs), allowing them to increasingly take up a monitoring role in the realm of AAR automation.