It simply states that the refueling was carried out over Southwest Asia by one of the tankers of the 340th Expeditionary Aircraft Refueling Squadron. 25, 2020, it does not specify where it was shot.

Once in position, the operator extends the boom to make contact with the receiver aircraft and once in contact, fuel is pumped through the boom into the receiver aircraft.ĭuring daytime AAR (Air-to-Air Refueling) the lighting system is not used, but the markings highlighting the location of the receptacle are pretty evident because painted to contrast with the skin color of the receiver around the receptacle: depending on the type, these markings can be in white, black, yellow or red.ĭealing with the photo, while the official caption says that the photo was taken on Dec. Air Force (as well as other air arms around the world), the receiver flies in a position behind the tanker, aided by director lights or directions radioed by the boom operator who observes the receiving aircraft from a “viewing pod” in the rear fuselage or, on more modern tanker types, through a camera system. In fact, as most of our readers know, with the “flying boom” or “boom and receptacle” system in use with the U.S. These lights are particularly useful at night because they guide the “boom operator” to plug in the boom (a rigid, telescoping tube, maneuvered from the rear of the tanker by means of a control stick), into the aircraft receptacle.

What makes it really interesting is that we can clearly see the inside of the cockpit illuminated by the characteristic NVGs (Night Vision Goggles)-compatible green lights along with the lights that illuminate the area around the refueling receptacle. The picture in this post shows an AC-130J Ghostrider being refueled at night by a U.S. Air Force AC-130J Ghostrider gunships are a constant presence in the CENTCOM AOR (Area Of Responsibility).

Air force gunship ghost