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Meeting	ACGS Committee Meeting 97 - Tahoe - March 2006
Agenda Location	7 SUBCOMMITTEE D - DYNAMICS, COMPUTATIONS AND ANALYSIS 7.1 Autonomous Aerial Refueling
Title	Autonomous Aerial Refueling
Presenter	Jake Hinchman
Affiliation	AFRL
Available Downloads*	presentation
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Abstract	AFRLA critical aspect of military aircraft operations is the ability to refuel in flight. Aerial refueling increases an aircraft’s effectiveness by extending its range and endurance (amount of time spent in the air), thus enabling it to travel anywhere on the globe, if needed. In addition, by being able to refuel, military aircraft are able to carry their maximum payload of weapons without reducing their range due to the extra weight. In effect, this enables the aircraft to be more effective in attacking and destroying enemy air and ground assets. However, what has been described thus far applies to piloted or manned airplanes. A new class of vehicle, the Unmanned Air Vehicle (UAV), is now becoming an important asset in military operations. Its role will be similar to the manned aircraft in that it will be required to per-form reconnaissance, target identification, target attack, and battle damage assessment. Consequently, if a UAV is expected to perform the same functions as a manned aircraft, it must also have an aerial refueling capability. The Automated Aerial Refueling (AAR) Program, a joint program between the Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL) and the Defense Advanced Re-search Projects Agency (DARPA), will develop technologies that will allow a UAV to refuel with a limited amount of controller interaction. The purpose of this paper is to provide a top level description of this program, the technologies being developed, and the role of both flight test and simulation in the technology development and validation process.