Burning 50,000 lbs of fuel per hour: Aerial refueling from a fighter pilot
Justin Lee | October 14, 2020
The development of aerial refueling was one of the greatest leaps in fighter lethality. A fighter, just like any aircraft, consists of hundreds of tradeoffs—cost, payload, speed, stealth, size, weight, maneuverability, the list goes on and on. But, the Achilles heel of fighters has always been their fuel consumption.
At the heart of a modern jet like the F-16 or F-35 is an afterburning turbofan engine. The turbofan part is similar to an airliner, however the afterburner is a special section fitted to the aft-tailpipe that injects fuel and ignites it, similar to a flame thrower. This rapidly increases thrust, however the tradeoff is that it burns fuel at an incredible rate.
https://www.sandboxx.us/blog/burning-50000-lbs-of-fuel-per-hour-aerial-refueling-from-a-fighter-pilot/
