China Is Using AI To Refuel Its Fighter Jets Mid-Air

Owing to range constraints and the potential for very lengthy missions, fighters and bombers are sometimes refueled in midair. Though it's quite a common procedure in this context, that doesn't make it any easier or safer to perform.  There's one thing that might, though: A new Chinese innovation is using AI to help pilots perform this critical yet hazardous aviation role.

The South China Morning Post notes that a new system referred to as the aerial refuelling area management system has been adopted by China's air force. According to the outlet, this system has algorithms that can detect how much fuel aircraft in a given airspace have, where they're currently flying to, the distance to a refueling aircraft and whether it's currently engaged, and so on, and parse this information for pilots. By doing so, it can tell them where and (just as critically) when to refuel. 

Training exercises began with this new AI system in 2025, and it seems to be a great example of one of the things AI does best: Grappling with a lot of data quickly and translating it into the important details users need. Let's take a closer look at why it might prove to be such a game-changer, not only for China's fighter pilots but for its air force as a whole. 

For air forces around the world, aircraft that can refuel their allies in the air have long been critical assets. There's one incredible airborne tanker that's been flying for over 60 years, in fact. The thing is, though, even with the tremendous capacities some of them have, each one can only supply so much fuel, and cannot be in multiple places at once. The goal, then, is to make the most efficient use possible of these essential aircraft. That's exactly what this Chinese AI innovation was created for. 

It's not just about which tanker plane is closest at a given time, but which is most efficient and safest to use. This means, of course, that there could be a wait, as a single tanker will often need to refuel multiple aircraft (though not all at once, naturally). A better choice, then, may be one that is a little further away in the air, thereby reducing the demand on any one aircraft and keeping the fleet as a whole moving. 

Crews of both tankers and jets in need of refueling already have a huge task ahead of them, simply because the operation itself has them in such close proximity to each other. This AI can't solve that challenge, but it can give the personnel involved less to worry about, because it aims to reduce the number of aircraft in the area, sharing the burden so there isn't so much worry about a 'queue.' It's not yet clear how the concept may evolve further, or how it'll operate during busier operations, but it's evident that China is prioritizing practical force projection and multiplication with its aircraft.