UAV smart enough to autonomously rendezvous with a tanker aircraft and refuel?
~ flight tests by the U.S. Air Force Research Laboratory and Boeing claimed to confirm that
~ adding an automated aerial refueling capability to UAVs said to significantly increase their combat radius and mission times
~ while reducing their forward staging needs and response times
~ the goal of the government-industry AAR program is to develop and demonstrate systems
~ that will enable UAVs to safely approach and maneuver around tanker aircraft
~ so they can successfully perform boom and receptacle refueling operations
~ the systems including a flight control computer and control laws were demonstrated using a Calspan Learjet
~ specially equipped to fly autonomously as a UAV
~ the AAR system autonomously guided the Learjet "UAV" up to a Boeing KC-135R tanker
~ and successfully maneuvered it among seven air refueling positions behind the tanker
~ - contact, pre-contact, left and right inboard observation, left and right outboard observation, and break away
~ the system controlled the Learjet for more than 1 hour and 40 minutes and
~ held the aircraft in the critical contact position for 20 minutes
~ while a pilot flies the Learjet to and from the vicinity of the tanker and stands by to take over if necessary (note!)
~ he does not otherwise control the aircraft during the refueling maneuvering portion of the experiment
~ phase II program that will include autonomous multi-ship operations and delivery of fuel to the surrogate UAV

The U.S. government team:
~ the Air Vehicles, Sensors, Human Effectiveness and Information Directorates at the Air Force Research Laboratory
~ Air Force Flight Test Center
~ Air Force Test Pilot School at Edwards Air Force Base
~ Naval Air Systems Command (NAVAIR)
~ 107th Air Refueling Wing, New York Air National Guard
~ 827th Aircraft Sustainment Group at Tinker Air Force Base
~ Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency Information Exploitation Office
~ Aeronautical Systems Center
~ Air Mobility Command

The AAR industry team:
~ Boeing Phantom Works, which built the AAR flight control computer and developed the AAR control laws
~ Calspan, which operates the Learjet
~ Rockwell Collins supporting KC-135 operations, building Tactical Targeting Network Technologies data link, and GPS receiver card
~ L3 Communications
~ SySense
~ Illinois Institute of Technology, which work with NAVAIR to develop precision GPS-based relative navigation system
~ Northrop Grumman, which built the INS/GPS, developed PGPS algorithms, and developed an EO/IR position sensing system
~ General Dynamics Advanced Information Systems, which provides systems engineering and flight test management assistance
~ Syngenics, which coordinates the AAR trade studies
~ Bihrle Applied Research, which integrates simulation environments
~ The Institute for Scientific Research, which develops image processing algorithms
~ Coherent Solutions, which develops required navigation performance