Auto’Mate Flight Trials Advance Airbus Aerial Refueling Road Map

Airbus A310 and Auto’Mate drones

Two of the UpNext Auto’Mate DT-25 target drones flew in formation with Airbus’ A310 refueling demonstrator, at one point closing to within 80 ft. of the converted airliner.

Credit: Carlos Pinilla/Airbus Defense and Space
Airbus is broadening its road map of aerial refueling technologies to include the autonomous tanking of uncrewed aircraft systems as it looks to the future of its A330 Multi-Role Tanker Transport. Having already developed and certified an Automatic Air-to-Air Refueling (A3R) capability for the...

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