Drones could soon 'refuel' themselves mid-air

October 07, 2012 16:29

Drones could soon handle mid-air refuelling by themselves, without the involvement of human pilots, US military flight tests have shown. The findings raise the possibility of automated "flying gas stations" topping off robotic aircraft over future battlefields.

The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) regularly uses unmanned drones to target militants in countries like Pakistan, Afghanistan and Yemen. The US Defence Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) recently flew two modified RQ-4 Global Hawk drones in close proximity to simulate mid-air refuelling.

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