Flying modern jet fighters you often find yourself shaking your head in wonderment over something you were able to do with the aircraft. To explain how the plane could do what it just did we would say “PFM” or Pure F…ing Magic.
Watch below and see a whole lot of “PFM” as a US Navy X-47B drone refuels in the air for the first time. Are fighter pilots days in the cockpit numbered???
April 22, 2015
While flying off the coast of Maryland and Virginia in the Atlantic Test Ranges, the X-47B connected to an Omega K-707 tanker aircraft and received over 4,000 pounds of fuel using the Navy’s probe-and-drogue method.
“What we accomplished today demonstrates a significant, groundbreaking step forward for the Navy,” said Capt. Beau Duarte, the Navy’s Unmanned Carrier Aviation program manager. “The ability to autonomously transfer and receive fuel in flight will increase the range and flexibility of future unmanned aircraft platforms, ultimately extending carrier power projection.” – NAVAIR News
Featured Image and Video Courtesy of Northrop Grumman