USAF Tanker boom with basket attached

[Falby]

During the 1991 Gulf War some USAF tankers had a short hose and basket attached to the boom so they could refuel Navy planes. I'm curious as to whether this has ever been thought about being implemented at some point in the future. It's not really a wish as there are much more important things to do first. But for ppl who want as much realism as possible it would be a nice addition.

[Yoshua]

It's been in DCS for at least a few years. It's the KC-135 MPRS

 

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[Falby]

http://www.anft.net/f-14/f14-detail-refprob-10.htm

I've never seen this in DCS.

[Yoshua]

http://www.anft.net/f-14/f14-detail-refprob-10.htm

 

I've never seen this in DCS.

I've refueled from it before. And no it's not a mod.

 

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[panton41]

I've always wondered why the USAF didn't just add a drogue receptacle to the KC-135 fuselage like the KC-10 or wing pods which would practically be snap-on with decades of service on Navy and Marine transports.

 

Or, for that matter, just replace them decades ago. The newest KC-135 was built when Lyndon Johnson was president. Bubblegum, duct tape and bailing wire are probably the three main things keeping them flying these days.

Edited June 18, 2020 by panton41

[Yoshua]

I've always wondered why the USAF didn't just add a drogue receptacle to the KC-135 fuselage like the KC-10 or wing pods which would practically be snap-on with decades of service on Navy and Marine transports.

 

Or, for that matter, just replace them decades ago. The newest KC-135 was built when Lyndon Johnson was president. Bubblegum, duct tape and bailing wire are probably the three main things keeping them flying these days.

The KC-46 is meant to replace the KC-135 after they fix some issues.

 

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[panton41]

The KC-46 is meant to replace the KC-135 after they fix some issues.

 

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There's close to 400 KC-135s currently in US service and that number of tankers is too few for how much demand there is. Civilian aerial tanker services are a thing, when they really shouldn't be.

Edited June 18, 2020 by panton41

[sideshow]

RAZBAM briefly had a 135 with that hose adapter in the game. For whatever reason they were unable to get it to work, so it was dumped in favor of the KC-135 MPRS we have now. That was also done by RAZBAM.

[Yoshua]

There's close to 400 KC-135s currently in US service and that number of tankers is too few for how much demand there is. Civilian aerial tanker services are a thing, when they really shouldn't be.

They're replacing the oldest and the KC-10's. They want 179 for not but don't be surprised if they order more later on.

 

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[sirrah]

I've refueled from it before. And no it's not a mod.

 

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Pictures or it didn't happen!

 

Just kidding mate :smilewink:

However I'm very curious when this was, because I've never seen it in DCS

[Yoshua]

I was just checking in DCS world and online and it was the KC-135 BDA that had the drogue on the boom. It was in DCS world but at some point removed and replaced with the MPRS.

 

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[sirrah]

I was just checking in DCS world and online and it was the KC-135 BDA that had the drogue on the boom. It was in DCS world but at some point removed and replaced with the MPRS.

 

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Hmm

 

That does ring a bell indeed

[Blacksmith]

A KC-135R would be an even better addition instead of needing to hunt out an MPRS or KC-130 if looking for a basket refuel.

 

KC-135R with its capability to offer BOOM air to air and 2 Drogue Baskets on the same mission would be great,not being anything like a programmer or even having a clue how you could make it work but I would guess it would be some kind of trigger when on first contact with the Tanker you advise what kind of hook up you require and then proceed to pre contact?

 

1/Boom

2/Drogue

 

Just and idea.

[Yoshua]

Thats in game. It is called the MPRS. The BDA is the one with the basket on the boom.

 

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[Eldur]

Here you can see it... with the issues:

 

[Blacksmith]

Thats in game. It is called the MPRS. The BDA is the one with the basket on the boom.

 

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Have never seen the MPRS deploy the BOOM for F-16,always have to set up a normal KC-135,as it stands we have 1 tanker for BOOM ops and 1 for BASKET/DROGUE...my suggestion was the KC-135R which can provide BOOM ops without the BASKET and BASKET/DROGUE via the wing pods,although not at the same time,so if BOOM in operation DROGUE Ops would have to wait for that to complete.

[ngreenaway]

https://www.af.mil/News/Article-Display/Article/622714/pegasus-drogue-hose-boom-systems-deployed/

 

heres an air force article on the kc-46 with pics of the drogue and boom

[Yoshua]

I doubt we will get a KC-46. I'd love to see one since I work on them though.

 

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[Cypher1o1]

I've always wondered why the USAF didn't just add a drogue receptacle to the KC-135 fuselage like the KC-10 or wing pods which would practically be snap-on with decades of service on Navy and Marine transports.

 

I was a E&E tech for kc-135s and I'm guessing why they didn't do that unitl later updates of the kc-135 is it would need a redesign to fuel and wing plumbing. Most of the fuel is held in tank bladders in the fuselage under the cargo compartment. Basically where the luggage would go for a commercial airliner

And the wings are already filled with electrical wiring, fuel to engines, bleed air ducts.... And the wing flexes enough that when the bleed air duct is pulled it's a utter pain in the ass to put it back in. So fitting plumbing with a high enough flow rate to feed a AAR system, even just probe and drogue system, is a considerable upgrade. Also the air force for every change has to be checked and double checked before implementing it. So versus the BDA the pods attachment is alot more involved.

[Northstar98]

I just wish that the KC-135 had different stores options in a loadout menu, allowing you to swap the boom for a boom with a drogue attached. Same goes for mounting the wing pods.

 

It's the same story for the S-3B and the S-3B Tanker; I'm not sure why there are 2 versions, when all the Tanker variant is AFAIK is just the usual S-3B, just carrying a D-704 buddy store and an external fuel tank. Shouldn't the D-704 just be something to attach in the equip in the loadout editor, like any other weapon?

Edited June 23, 2020 by Northstar98

[ngreenaway]

I doubt we will get a KC-46. I'd love to see one since I work on them though.

 

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Theres a bunch of them across the street from my work that id love to see the AF finally accept

[ST0RM]

Have never seen the MPRS deploy the BOOM for F-16,always have to set up a normal KC-135,as it stands we have 1 tanker for BOOM ops and 1 for BASKET/DROGUE...my suggestion was the KC-135R which can provide BOOM ops without the BASKET and BASKET/DROGUE via the wing pods,although not at the same time,so if BOOM in operation DROGUE Ops would have to wait for that to complete.

 

You do know that the R suffix has nothing to do with the refueling configuration?

In short, the R signifies that its a former A-model airframe, equipped with CFM-56/F108 engines.

 

So what you're asking for is the ability for a MPRS equipped tanker, to perform both types of refueling. Boom and drogue, via the pods.

 

It cant be done currently. The devs couldn't/wouldn't make the logic to decipher which type of receiver was calling and to then have the AI tanker utilize the proper system.

 

So, they simply gave us two models, hard coded to work in 1 method each.

 

And no, you dont want a KC-46A. In fact, the USAF doesn't even want them. Broke and unreliable garbage that is heavily restricted as to what its cleared to refuel and type of mission allowed.

[ngreenaway]

And no, you dont want a KC-46A. In fact, the USAF doesn't even want them. Broke and unreliable garbage that is heavily restricted as to what its cleared to refuel and type of mission allowed.

 

Sooo youre saying it would fit right in, then!

(&no, i prefer not to dump on the fine work that ED does, but i just couldn't resist!)

[AG-51_Razor]

Not being a programmer, I have no idea what the technical issues are but having poked around in a few .lua files, I see many places where a/c are given specific attributes such as country, or tanker, transport, helicopter or fighter. It doesn't seem to be that huge of a problem to identify every a/c that uses a boom recepticle and every one that uses a probe and apply those lists to the MPRS such that it would deploy the boom or the basket depending on which type of a/c is calling for fuel. DCS knows who is calling, and the tanker knows. It just doesn't seem to be that difficult, but like I said, I'm no programmer. :doh:

Edited June 25, 2020 by AG-51_Razor
spelling

[ngreenaway]

A rule 1.2 violation? Wish i saw that one before it got deleted