How do you refuel an Air Force F35-B?

On Sun, 18 Apr 2004 14:36:04 -0700, Henry J Cobb wrote:

USAF to Purchase Marines’ Vertical-Lift Fighter
http://www.jinsa.org/articles/articl...0,656,164,2407

Note the lift fan on the F-35B where the F-35A refueling-boom socket goes.

http://globalsecurity.org/military/s...craft/f-35.htm

So you need a KC-135R or KC-767 to refuel a F-35B, and the KC-767 can
only refuel one of these short ranged fighters at a time and only from a
safe distance to keep the airliner out of harm's way.


If they ever bought the KC-767 why couldn't they outfit it with two
under-wing refueling drouge systems? It's not like it's never been
done before.






Perhaps USMC KC-130Js will go back to fill up from the AF KC-767s then
forwards to refuel AF F-35Bs? ;-)

-HJC

Scott Ferrin wrote:
If they ever bought the KC-767 why couldn't they outfit it with two
under-wing refueling drouge systems? It's not like it's never been
done before.

http://www.fas.org/man/crs/RL32056.pdf
The ORD requires, for example, that the KC-135's replacement be able
to refuel two aircraft simultaneously with the hose-and-drogue system.
The KC-767 variant being considered in this lease cannot satisfy this
requirement. It can only refuel one aircraft at a time with the
hose-and-drogue which considerably reduces, opponents say, its
operational capabilities.

http://www.afa.org/magazine/aug2003/0803tankers.asp
Though USAF wanted plumbing in the wings for wingtip probe-and-drogue
refueling, to lower cost, it dropped the requirement. The aircraft
will have both a boom-type refueling system and a probe-and-drogue,
both on the centerline.

http://www.airforce-technology.com/p...767/specs.html
Probe and drogue refuelling Wingpods and a centre-line hose

But the *-technology.com sites are often wrong.

Writing to them does help as they've changed the CIWS to RAM after I
notified them.

http://www.naval-technology.com/proj...d17/index.html

-HJC