Aerial refueling

Aerial refueling, also referred to as air refueling, in-flight refueling (IFR), air-to-air refueling (AAR), and tanking, is the process of transferring fuel from one aircraft (the tanker equipped with a drogue) to another (the reciever equipped with a probe) while both aircraft are in flight.

Refueling an aircraft can only be done by aircrafts with a drogue, either by default or equippable with advanced customization options. On the other hand, an aircraft can be refueled in-flight only if it has a probe, that will automatically connect to the drogue of a refueling aircraft when the two aircrafts are close enough. The drogue of the tanker also has to be extended via the "function" button (T or Y by default).

Different tanker aircraft have different speed requirements to extend and retract their drogue. Beyond a certain speed, the aircraft will have its drogue automatically retracted, and on the other hand, when below a certain speed, it will be impossible to extend the drogue.

Tips

• On aircraft with a drogue which extends straight out from the receptacle on the plane, such as the Airbus A400M Atlas, Lockheed C-130H Hercules, and all fighter buddy refueling pods, use Camera 3 and aim for the receptacle, not the drogue. Camera mode 3 is offset from the vehicle such that if the player approaches from directly behind and aims at the receptacle, it will be much easier to attach to the drogue.
• Communication is key. The refueling tanker should communicate their speed to the refueling aircraft, and the tanker should fly straight and level with as constant a speed as possible.
• Wind affects both aircraft. Do not try to aim using the velocity indicator. Instead use the crosshair to aim at the drogue receptacle as described above.
• Once contact is made, the drogue is able to extend rewards a far ways before disconnecting, but has very limited forward traverse. When refueling, slow down upon contact to ensure that you do not run too far forwards.

Aircraft

Aircraft that can refuel other aircraft:

• Airbus A400M Atlas
• Boeing F/A-18E Super Hornet
• Embraer C-390
• Handley Page Victor
• Lockheed C-130H Hercules
• Lockheed S-3A Viking
• Lockheed Tristar KC.1
• Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-29KUB Fulcrum-D
• Northrop F-20 Tigershark

Aircraft that can be aerially refueled:

• Airbus A400M Atlas
• Alenia C-27J Spartan
• BAe Systems Hawk 200
• Bell-Boeing V-22 Osprey
• Chengdu J-10C Menglong
• Dassault Mirage F1-C
• Dassault Rafale
• Eurofighter Typhoon
• Handley Page Victor
• Ilyushin Il-80 Maxdome
• KAI FA-50 Fighting Eagle
• Lockheed Tristar KC.1
• Lockheed WP-3D Orion
• Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-29A Fulcrum
• Saab JAS-39E Gripen NG
• Tupolev Tu-95MS Bear-H

Aircraft that can both refuel and be refueled:

• Airbus A400M Atlas
• Handley Page Victor
• Lockheed Tristar KC.1

See also

• Category:Refueling Drogue, aircraft with drogues
• Category:Refueling Probe, aircraft with a probe