Northrop Grumman has moved a step closer to achieving autonomous in-flight refuelling, which remains one of the major technology barriers facing unmanned aircraft systems.
A series of 10 test flights in March proved that a software algorithm based on relative navigation technology works inside an existing Northrop navigation system.
The software package allowed LN-251, a global positioning system/fibre-optic inertial navigation system, to guide a Learjet acting as a surrogate UAS within approximately 1m (3.28ft) of a refuelling boom on a US Air Force Boeing KC-135 tanker, says Simona Kelley, programme manager for Northrop's autonomous aerial refuelling system.
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The flight tests, sponsored by the Air Force Research Laboratory, followed a series performed in 2007 using the same software package on a US Navy-owned processing system, she says.
Northrop's system requires the tanker and receiver to exchange navigational data, allowing the LN-251 to establish their position in relation to each other in space within centimetres.
Source: Flight International
