Did you know F-22 Raptor stealth jets can be refueled by a Special Operations MC-130J tanker on the ground?
The following video shows Forward air refueling point airmen with the 1st Special Operations Logistics Readiness Squadron conduct a FARP operation at Hurlburt Field, Fla., on Feb. 26, 2017.
The FARP program is a Special Operations Command initiative that trains petroleum, oils and lubrication airmen to perform covert, nighttime refueling operations in deployed locations where fueling stations are not accessible or when air-to-air refueling is not possible.
Actually, the exercise proves a refueler equipped with the hose and drogue system can refuel an aircraft that has no IFR (In Flight Refueling) probe but uses the flying boom AAR (Air-to-Air Refueling) system: in this case three F-22 Raptors assigned to the 95th Fighter squadron, Tyndall Air Force Base, Florida., received fuel from an MC-130J Commando II tanker assigned to the 9th Special Operations Squadron, Cannon AFB, N.M..
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Although the stealth jets use a dorsal receptacle they were refueled, on the ground, by a MC-130J that would have been unable to refuel the jets mid-air, being equipped with the hose-and-drogue system that requires a probe like that used by the U.S. Navy and U.S. Marine Corps jets.
FARPs provide the ability to ensure an aircraft’s global reach capabilities are met to accomplish the mission.
