I have a few questions regarding the regarding the refueling of aerospace units in space.
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The first question is: When refueling, where does the fuel comes from.
As an example a
Leopard CV has a total fuel load of 137 tons, and carries 6
STU-K5 Stuka fighters each with a 5 ton fuel capacity.
According to
Strategic Operations page 35
Units may refuel by landing on a friendly carrier and being refueled by the crews. This requires them to dock (and subsequently launch) according to the standard rules (see Launching/Recovering Fighters/Small Craft, p. 84, TW). The refueling action takes 1 space turn per ton of fuel loaded onto the fighter
Does this fuel come from the 137 tons of fuel on board the
Leopard CV?
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The second question is in regard to in-space refueling.
It is noted in
Strategic Operations on page 35 that
Aerospace fighters may also carry out "in-space" refueling by docking with external fuel drogues, a faster and more efficient (but riskier) process. To do this, the fighter must match velocity and heading with a friendly carrier DropShip (any with fighter or Small Craft bays) and must be in the same hex.
Can small craft equipped as a fuel tanker (with a liquid or refrigerated cargo storage bay and refueling drogues) refuel aerospace fighters using the above rules?
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My third question relates to refueling larger craft (dropships/jumpships) in space.
Do these craft dock with each other in order to transfer the fuel or are they capable of UNREP (UNderway REPlenisment) operations, transferring the fuel from cargo bays of one ship to the fuel tanks of another via refueling drogues?
