Debunking the F-35 Refueling Myth

I believe it was an Ottawa newspaper that started the story that the F-35 Canada intends to buy can't be refueled without also buying another type of tanker aircraft.   That was presumably based on the fact that the US Air Force uses its own refueling system, a boom apparatus that plugs into the receiving aircraft.

Pretty much everyone else uses the drogue and boom system.  The tanker unspools a flexible hose with a drogue at the end.   The fighter extends its own, onboard probe and flies it into the drogue basket at which point fuel is transferred.   This is the system used by the US Navy and the US Marine Corps.  As the USN and USMC are intended to be the second and third largest user of the F-35, does anybody in his right mind think Lockheed would leave them with an aircraft they can't refuel.

Just to set the record straight, here is a pic of an actual F-35 successfully refueling with the drogue & probe system.

Yeah, that's right.  It's an F-35, the same airplane that supposedly can't do this.  Better still, in case you suspect that photograph is faked, here's the video:



There is no shortage of deficiencies that make the F-35 unsuitable for Canada.  Refueling isn't one of them.