An aerial refueling system including a refueling drogue assembly (100) including a refueling drogue and a refueling hose (110) in captive relation with the refueling drogue and a drogue positioning system. The drogue positioning system including a radiation emitter (200), a radiation receiver (300) and a signal processor. Then the radiation emitter (200) is adapted to direct radiation to a positioning area (400) a defined distance from the radiation emitter, the radiation carrying a modulated location signal containing information corresponding to positions within the positioning area (400). The radiation receiver (300) is adapted to receive at least a portion of the emitted radiation carrying the modulated signal and output a signal to the signal processor indicative of the modulation of the location signal of the received radiation. And the signal processor is adapted to process the outputted signal and identify a position within the positioning area (400) indicative of the location in the positioning area of the received radiation.
Optical tracking system for aerial refueling
Optisches Verfolgungssystem für Betankung in der Luft
Système de poursuite optique pour le ravitaillement en vol
16.09.2020
Patent
Elektronische Ressource
Englisch