PLAAF deploys AI-assisted aerial refuelling system for YY-20 tanker

The PLAAF's new intelligent dispatch system will enable YY-20 aerial tanker crews to create an aerial refuelling plan in real time by considering the fuel levels of receiver aircraft in the vicinity. (Meng Fanshuo/VCG via Getty Images)

The People's Liberation Army Air Force (PLAAF) has deployed an artificial intelligence (AI) dispatch system on board a Xi'an YY-20 aerial tanker aircraft to enhance in-flight refuelling (IFR) operations.

Developed by PLAAF technicians, the aerial refuelling area management system monitors the airspace around the tanker aircraft and employs built-in algorithms to calculate the real-time fuel levels of friendly aircraft in the area, including those cueing up for refuelling, the PLA Daily, the official newspaper of the Chinese People's Liberation Army, said in March 2026.

According to the PLAAF, the system (also known within the PLAAF as the ‘intelligent dispatch programme') was operationally used for the first time during a training mission at the end of 2025.

By presenting information on receiver aircraft, such as their fuel level, airspace range, and loitering time, the system enables the YY-20 pilots and crews “to make comprehensive judgements … and use the system's built-in ‘intelligent dispatch' programme to generate the optimal aerial refuelling plan in real time”, a PLAAF officer from the unit, Yu He, told the newspaper.

“The intelligent dispatch programme recommends scientific and efficient solutions that maximise the benefits of aerial refuelling,” he added.

In contrast, Yu said earlier tanker operations were conducted in a “blind manner”. Previously, the YY-20 tanker aircraft had to fly to designated airspace to “passively accept orders. Tanker crews were unaware of the receiver aircraft's refuelling needs and waited passively in the air; receiver aircraft tended to choose the nearest tanker, leading to some tankers working beyond their capacity”, he said.