F-35B, experimentation for fast ground refueling with fixed wing aircraft concluded

(To air Force)
18/08/20

The first activity, at national level, has recently been completed, at the base of the 32 ° flock of Amendola Rapid Ground HOT Refueling with fixed-wing aircraft, or the experimentation of the ability to Rapid Ground Refueling (RGR) from the KC-130J aircraft to the F-35B aircraft by using the equipment Air Landed Aircraft Refueling Point (ALARP).

Three days of intensive tests during which RSV personnel demonstrated the F-35B's ability to carry out a quick refuel on the ground (Rapid Ground Refueling - RGR) with engine running (hot refueling) effectively using the ALARP equipment of the KC-130J aircraft. During the tests the compatibility between the Thoughts, namely the KC-130J aircraft, and the receiver, ie the F-35B aircraft, defining the operating procedures for the personnel who will be responsible for the use of this important refueling system.

The experimentation allowed to increase the expeditionary capacity of the F-35B aircraft, demonstrating its effectiveness even in contexts of absence or unavailability of airport refueling systems and to participate in the exercise Proof of concept expeditionary, operational demonstration held at the Pantelleria airport on July 30th, in which a semi-permissive environment was simulated.

The activity, carried out with the collaboration of the RSV of Pratica di Mare, of the 3rd wing of Villafranca and of the 46th air brigade of Pisa, in addition to the support of the staff of the host Apulian base, is part of the wider context of theOperational and Test Evaluation (OT&E) that the RSV is carrying out on the F-35A and F-35B aircraft to evaluate the adherence of the new weapon systems to the operational use, or the correspondence of the technical capacity with respect to the operational requirement.