| 摘要 |
A method for physically coupling together a first aircraft 102 and a second aircraft 104, for example for the purpose of performing air-to-air refuelling in flight, comprises sending an electromagnetic signal from a transmitter 112, 114, 116 located on the first aircraft 102, receiving the signal by a receiver 118 located on the second aircraft 104 and controlling at least one of the first and second aircraft 102, 104 by one or more processors 120, using the signal received by the second aircraft 104, such that the aircraft 102, 104 are in a predetermined configuration in which the first and second aircraft 104 are physically coupled together, for example attached together by means of a refuelling hose 108 and drogue 110. The first aircraft 102 may be a tanker and the second aircraft 104 may be an unmanned and/or low observable aircraft. The tanker 102 may carry three transceivers 112, 114, 116 which can operate in either a ranging mode to assist in docking the aircraft 104 with the drogue 110 or a data link mode for transferring mission data. |
