The ability to refuel while still in the air was invented in 1923 by the United States. It allows military aircraft to continue missions for longer without having to land first. After more than 100 years of developing this technology, the Republic of Singapore Air Force (RSAF) will be the first in the world to use an automatic aerial refueling system.
The Airbus A330 Multi Role Tanker Transport (MRTT) aircraft has performed more than 500 refueling processes on the RSAF's F-15SG, F-16 and A330 MRTT aircraft last August. This is part of the process to obtain operational certification in 2024.
Airbus' automatic refueling system has been tested since 2020. It can operate at night and even in bad weather conditions. The automatic filling process reduces the stress on human operators and speeds up the process of refueling the aircraft when needed.
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