The Next Step

If you can build unmanned aircraft for surveillance, ground attack and even air combat, why not a drone to refuel other UAVs?

Sure enough, an element of the Cobham group is already working on the concept, and is planning on a test flight in Arizona next month. Graham Warwick of Aviation Week has more.

Of course, Cobham's interest in the "next generation" of air-to-air refueling is hardly a surprise. The company's founder, British aviation pioneer Alan Cobham, was an early advocate of tanker aircraft, and played a leading role in developing the probe-and-drogue method of in-flight refueling.