In Flight Reloading system

[Silverbolt]

The company FAT Technologies, Israel, requested and received the registration of industrial property (patent) a method and a system to allow for the rearmament of aircraft during flight. No detail has been released, unless the illustration below, which shows an arm extending from the back door of a C-130 and posting a load on a F-16.

 

 

A "pincer" that holds the aircraft at fighting system which with the help of cameras and sensors are the rearmament, and these can operate both during the day and the night.

 

Even taking into account that the illustration is simplified and it is easy to see that it would be very difficult to fight an aircraft flying so close and at the same altitude of an aircraft of greater size, while keeping it stable enough for the maneuver to transfer the load to be successful.

 

Of course, there some automatic stabilization while working on game and the arm, making them stable in relation to one another.

 

 

quite impressive.

Edited March 16, 2009 by Silverbolt

[FastCargo]

Quite idiotic.

 

I'll believe when I see it. There are SO many pitfalls to this scheme I don't know where to start.

 

FC

[+Stary]

what's the point?

 

X+SHIFT+CTRL

[SayethWhaaaa]

It'll be just like Desert Strike! I can winch ammo, fuel and armour kits to my Super Apache!

[serverandenforcer]

There is no way that can really be done at all. The slightest mistake in piloting of either aircraft, and operation of the rearming arm, or mechanical failure of so many things involved will spell certain doom. OK, so let's say they were able to get this to work somehow and begin re-arming a fighter... What if the loading arm gets stuck while it's attached to the fighter? Both the crew of the re-arming cargo plane and the pilot in the fighter are screwed (except the pilot of the fighter can eject). This is a bad bad bad and stooooooooooopid idea.

[JediMaster]

What FC isn't telling us is that he knows what we saw in Afterburner in the arcades in the 80s is REAL.

B-1Bs CAN refuel and rearm our fighters in flight...with 36 missiles at a time!!!

[macelena]

Unless you actually get the aircraft fixed related to the mother ship (land aboard) i don´t

think it is going to work. All the checks needed...I wouldn´t invest on it

[Jeremiah Weed]

Not only is this impractical form a technology stand point, it is impractical from an operational standpoint as well.

[Viper6]

you are kidding right? physics 101 says no, too many variables. trail plane flying in unstable air etc...

[Growler67]

The first hurdle would be to redesign the hardpoint extension and ordinance rack to make this mating plausible. Until that happens (existing hardware will not allow this to happen by any stretch), it's all theoretical.......at best.

 

After the munitions are expended, the rack gets ejected. Then pulling up behind the supplier, the docking mechanism could slide a new loaded rack onto the sponson/hardpoint and it'll lock when it has slid into the full rear "lock" position. Repeat for the opposite side and peel off to the FEBA/Killbox. Would only be conceivable for wing stores as fuselage/centerline would be very problematic and risky for exterior damage or something getting injested by the engine intake.

 

Of course ALL of this goes away for ANY aircraft with internal munition bays.

[+SkippyBing]

I could see this working if say, you designed two UAVs to do it from scratch. But retrofitting an existing aircraft seems more trouble than it's worth for all the reasons already mentioned.

Edited March 16, 2009 by SkippyBing