Buddy to Buddy Refueling

[Khafee]

A4 Skyhawk

Su 30's

F18

J15

Tornado and M346

Rafale

Su30 and Mirage 2000

Mig 29's

V22 & F35

Capt. Lowell H. Smith and Lt. John P. Richter receiving the first mid-air refueling on June 27, 1923, from a plane flown by 1st Lt. Virgil Hine and 1st Lt. Frank W. Seifert.
Aircraft: DH-4B

 

[Atalay]

Awesome

Adaptable for a wide range of fast jet platforms Cobham’s buddy refuelling pods provide a highly reliable and proven refuelling capability.

http://www.cobham.com/mission-syste...ose-and-drogue-systems/buddy-refuelling-pods/

 

[I.R.A]

Mig 29's

Interesting ........... if I am not mistaken, that's a Chinese plane refueling an Indian plane?

Edit: And that 1923 image is really something I learnt new today.

 

[Khafee]

Interesting ........... if I am not mistaken, that's a Chinese plane refueling an Indian plane?

Edit: And that 1923 image is really something I learnt new today.

Soviet

 

[I.R.A]

Soviet

Oops sorry my bad .......... the star made me think its Chinese. You can expect these blunders from me

 

[Khafee]

Oops sorry my bad .......... the star made me think its Chinese. You can expect these blunders from me

View attachment 4542

No issues man!

 

[I.R.A]

No issues man!

Buddy to buddy refueling is for peace time missions / exercises only or it has some significance during war time too (as a regular practice)? I mean most of the jets who buddy refueled the other jets were carrying extra fuel tank ......

 

[Khafee]

Buddy to buddy refueling is for peace time missions / exercises only or it has some significance during war time too (as a regular practice)? I mean most of the jets who buddy refueled the other jets were carrying extra fuel tank ......

The draw back of convetional air tankers, is thier size - it effects their manuvarebality, and agility. Buddy Refullers (BR) do not have this limitation. They do not need to operate well within friendly skies. They are more effective in hostile conditions, than dedicated refullers.

They do need to carry an extra pod, that would weight about 600kg's, but they can still carry extra fuel tanks / EW pods, and A2A missiles.

What you have in the following pic, is an F18 Super hornet, with 4 external tanks, and a centreline refueling pod. This would come in handy, when a friendly a/c would be returning from a sortie, and low on fuel. This mini tanker could fly out, and make sure that the buddy had enough fuel to land safely.

He still has 2 wingtip, and two under wing hard points available for missiles.

Now look at the configuration of this Rafale. The refuller seems to be carrying Mica A2A.

This kind of capability, helps improve combat radius, and loiter time. It can safely operate in hostile environments, where traditional refullers would have a tough time, or would be costlier to operate.

 

[I.R.A]

The draw back of convetional air tankers, is thier size - it effects their manuvarebality, and agility. Buddy Refullers (BR) do not have this limitation. They do not need to operate well within friendly skies. They are more effective in hostile conditions, than dedicated refullers.

They do need to carry an extra pod, that would weight about 600kg's, but they can still carry extra fuel tanks / EW pods, and A2A missiles.

What you have in the following pic, is an F18 Super hornet, with 4 external tanks, and a centreline refueling pod. This would come in handy, when a friendly a/c would be returning from a sortie, and low on fuel. This mini tanker could fly out, and make sure that the buddy had enough fuel to land safely.

He still has 2 wingtip, and two under wing hard points available for missiles.

View attachment 4544

View attachment 4546


Now look at the configuration of this Rafale. The refuller seems to be carrying Mica A2A.
View attachment 4545

This kind of capability, helps improve combat radius, and loiter time. It can safely operate in hostile environments, where traditional refullers would have a tough time, or would be costlier to operate.

Thanks that was informative.

 

[Atalay]

A-4 Skyhawk feeds a F-4 Phantom

 

[Khafee]

View attachment 4609

A4 refuelling an F4. Nice