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The Staff of SOH
The US Navy Tanker Drone
- Thread starter Panther_99FS
- Start date
Panther_99FS
Retired SOH Administrator
NP!
IMHO, if you think about it, an AR drone does make sense....
With the advances taking place in the technology space, I would not be surprised to see the human presence also eliminated from military aircraft that are designed to deliver munitions. They will be remotely piloted from ships, subs and land bases. It's coming faster than we probably expect.
Stealth Drone Tanker
When you look at it the tanker is the weak link in the deep interdiction mission. For example, if you wanted to strike a target deep in enemy territory where you have to traverse an integrated anti-aircraft defense system, flying circuitous routes around enemy early warning installations (burning precious go-go juice in the mean time) to hit a target so far away that an AR with a tanker going in and coming out is your only means for mission success...then to have the KC-135's knocked down like a large lumbering goose makes the score Enemy 2 (tanker and out-of-fuel fighter) and the Good Guys 0.
Concepts for a stealth tanker are in the works, however the MQ-25 tanker, which is carrier borne, will be an interim measure. A dedicated platform other than the MQ-25 would be interesting to see. A ship-borne unmanned stealth tanker a little larger than an A-12 Avenger II would be very interesting for the Navy.
Check out the next step in the evolution of stealth tankers:
http://www.thedrive.com/the-war-zone/7012/the-air-force-desperately-needs-a-stealth-tanker
When you look at it the tanker is the weak link in the deep interdiction mission. For example, if you wanted to strike a target deep in enemy territory where you have to traverse an integrated anti-aircraft defense system, flying circuitous routes around enemy early warning installations (burning precious go-go juice in the mean time) to hit a target so far away that an AR with a tanker going in and coming out is your only means for mission success...then to have the KC-135's knocked down like a large lumbering goose makes the score Enemy 2 (tanker and out-of-fuel fighter) and the Good Guys 0.
Concepts for a stealth tanker are in the works, however the MQ-25 tanker, which is carrier borne, will be an interim measure. A dedicated platform other than the MQ-25 would be interesting to see. A ship-borne unmanned stealth tanker a little larger than an A-12 Avenger II would be very interesting for the Navy.
Check out the next step in the evolution of stealth tankers:
http://www.thedrive.com/the-war-zone/7012/the-air-force-desperately-needs-a-stealth-tanker
