In first, Airbus A310 tanker flight autonomously guides DT-25 drones into mock refueling position.

The guidance and control test milestone represents a significant step toward the longer-term goal, scheduled to be achieved by mid-2024, of an “end-to-end demonstration” that will see the A310 autonomously refuel a DT-25.

Airbus Defence and Space and company subsidiary UpNext say they have successfully completed a round of tests involving an A310 Multi-Role Tanker Transport (MRTT) testbed autonomously guiding and controlling DT-25 targeting drones, a step towards wholly autonomous refueling.

Two test flights, held last week at Getafe Air Base, Spain, and lasting almost 12 hours in total, saw the tanker use autonomous capabilities, more commonly referred by Airbus as Auto’Mate technologies, to “sequentially command” eight of the uncrewed aircraft, according to Manuel Barriopedro, head of Auto’Mate Demonstrator at Airbus UpNext.

The DT-25 targeting drones were first controlled by a ground control station as they took off over the waters of the Gulf of Cadiz, before the A310 took over to autonomously fly them to a position identical to that of a receiver aircraft preparing to be refueled.

Specifically, the receiver drones were directed to a minimum distance of 150 feet (around 45 meters), from the tanker, said Barriopedro. Three “technological bricks” upon which Auto’Mate is based — accurate relative navigation, intra-flight communication and co-operative control algorithms — were all rolled out successfully during the tests.

According to the companies, those capabilities enable Airbus to identify the exact position, speed and altitudes of the tanker and the drones with the control algorithms also embedded with collision avoidance functionality to prevent mid-air accidents.

The guidance and control test milestone represents a significant step toward the longer-term goal, scheduled to be achieved by mid-2024, of an “end-to-end demonstration” that will see the A310 autonomously refuel a DT-25, effectively validating the manufacturer’s Autonomous Air-to-Air refueling (A4R) concept.

A second phase of testing, set to commence before the end of 2023, will see “navigation sensors” integrated with artificial intelligence used for autonomous formation flights and involve simulated drones flying, virtually, in the airspace of the A310 — so the tanker’s collision avoidance capabilities can be further tested.

“We need to analyze all the data that we have gathered from the [first] flight tests, from different cameras, LiDAR [imagery], different types of GPS [data], in order to assess how precise they are and how [well] they have been integrated,” said Barriopedro. “Once we have done that, we will move to the next steps and increase autonomy levels.”

Airbus wants to see Auto’Mate technology certified and on the market by “the end of the decade,” according to María Ángeles Martí, head of Tanker and Derivatives at Airbus Defence and Space.

The manufacturer has previously partnered with the Republic of Singapore Air Force to advance Automatic Air-to-Air refuelling (A3R) capabilities on A330 MRTT aircraft.

“We will start to upgrade this [A3R] technology for customers in the coming years,” added Martí, but said that a decision on whether it will be an option or integrated as a standard feature of the aircraft has yet to be made.