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Stephen Chen

Northwestern Polytechnical University has conducted what could be China’s first openly reported autonomous aerial refuelling flight test, according to scientists involved in the project.
Two unidentified unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV) were used in the refuelling tests. One served as the tanker with a refuelling pod and the other as the receiver.
In high-speed formation flights, the receiver autonomously located, tracked and docked with the tanker under extreme conditions using a highly robust vision-based navigation system.
The development is particularly significant because of the institutional link between the university and China’s advanced drone programme Jiu Tian, a heavy-duty unmanned platform that can carry more than 200 loitering munitions.
With an official range of 7,000km (4,350 miles), Jiu Tian cannot reach the continental US from Chinese bases. But when combined with in-flight refuelling, its effective strike radius could double, placing major east coast cities – from Washington to New York and Miami – within plausible reach.
Soon after Jiu Tian took its maiden flight on December 12, Northwestern Polytechnical University released a statement confirming its critical role in the programme.
The latest breakthrough, detailed in a paper titled “Drogue Detection and Localisation Methodology for UAV Autonomous Aerial Refuelling” and published in the peer-reviewed journal Systems Engineering and Electronics on December 9, marked a critical leap by China towards fully autonomous, ultra-long-endurance UAV operations.
The university team, led by Bu Shuhui from the school of aeronautics, designed a dual-camera near-infrared (NIR) vision system mounted on the receiver drone, paired with eight NIR LEDs installed on the drogue – or fuel basket – of the tanker aircraft.
Even under intense sunlight, high-speed flight and partial visual blocking, their AI system with a deep learning algorithm achieved over 99 per cent detection success rate with centimetre-level positioning accuracy.


“Two aircraft kept formation flight … the receiver aircraft used the visual system to detect the drogue and calculate relative pose, and successfully completed the docking between the refuelling probe and the drogue,” Bu and his colleagues wrote.
Testing involved various challenging environmental scenarios.
They include backlighting with sun behind the drogue and causing glare, front lighting with direct sunlight into the camera lens, and partial occlusion with up to two of the eight LEDs being blocked, simulating structural damage or smoke.
Most US military simulations have assumed that Chinese long-range strike options are limited to ballistic missiles or bombers operating from fixed bases.
A fleet of Jiu Tian each launching hundreds of AI-guided kamikaze drones near the US coastline could overwhelm existing air defences.
The US is pursuing similar capabilities – such as the Navy’s MQ-25 Stingray tanker drone – but is primarily focused on supporting crewed aircraft.
Northwestern Polytechnical University is known to have contributed core technologies to the Chinese military’s newest weapons including hypersonic weapons. It is subject to US sanctions and, according to the Chinese government, a main target of US government cyberattacks.
He Zhibin, a Chinese space scientist known as the father of the Hainan Space Launch Centre, said at a meeting in Guangzhou on November 22 that the Jiu Tian drone was a “sword aiming at the throat of warmongers, especially those in the United States”.
Each Jiu Tian drone can carry hundreds of tactical missiles, He added.


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Strike radius of Chinese drone programme capable of carrying deadly military weapons doubled to reach Washington, New York and Miami


Strike radius of Chinese drone programme capable of carrying deadly military weapons doubled to reach Washington, New York and Miami.


United States

Northwestern Polytechnical University (China)

Landmark in-air refuelling test extends China’s drone swarm delivery range to US homeland

.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}Strike radius of Chinese drone programme capable of carrying deadly military weapons doubled to reach Washington, New York and Miami

Strike radius of Chinese drone programme capable of carrying deadly military weapons doubled to reach Washington, New York and Miami