• If (for block or specified planning anchors) time blocks are provided for coverage periods, AR will be planned to fill those coverage periods
• If (for block planning anchors) no time blocks are provided for coverage periods, AR will be planned to fill AR requirements for the other air plans
• Tankers will be scheduled to arrive as the previous one departs due to fuel depletion
• If any preferred platforms are listed for an anchor: That anchor will be prioritized over others (based on the assumption that if the users made the effort to identify a platform, they would prioritize it over an orbit for which they didn’t identify a preferred platform)
• If no preferred platforms are listed for an anchor: Any platform can be planned for that anchor
• If only any preferred platforms are listed for an anchor: Only those platforms can be planned for the anchor
• Note: Subsequent tankers are actually planned to arrive on their anchors 5 minutes prior to the actual time required

• Hi Res AR currently (subject to change as Hi Res AR is implemented fully):

• # of preferred platforms is in terms of “tanker equivalents”; it may take many flights to generate that much fuel at the anchor (heavily dependent on distance to the anchor)
• Intending to change to scheduling fuel-on-demand, rather than “tanker equivalents”
• Min orbit duration: Hard coded as 0
• Max orbit duration: Standard tanker time on station
• Intending to change to allow user defined times for each anchor

• Primary Anchor: These are the anchors associated with ACO orbits or routes in the AR Plan, and is where the AR will actually occur
• Note: The term “Primary Anchor” is used here only in the context of this documentation; it is not used in the code itself; in the GUI for AR Coverage Mode, this represents “Specified” and “Block”.
• Spare Anchor: These anchors represent airborne spare anchors; while no AR occurs at these anchors, the tankers scheduled to these anchors will fly to primary anchors to backfill vacancies.
• These airborne spares are chosen in the GUI for AR Coverage Mode as “Spare Specified” and “Spare Block”.
• Alert Tankers: Alert tankers are planned first (in the quantity identified) by choosing from air units closest to the anchor. Alert tankers will not be used to backfill a vacant spare tanker anchor, but can be used to backfill primary anchors. Excess unplanned tankers will be placed on alert.

This guide is provided as a “template” for how anchors were envisioned/designed to be laid out:

ACO Anchor Guide

Limitations of Hi Res AR:

• User control of Flight routing is limited. In general, a Flight will fly from its launch point, direct to the AR anchor, direct to its route or orbit, and then reverse the same course on the return (even if no refueling is required). If there are multiple anchors mapped to the orbit/route, the planning algorithm will pick the one closest to the orbit/route.
• Note: It is planned that with SR2.50, users will be able to exclude particular squadrons from planning refueling at particular orbits/routes. This will permit greater control over routing, and can prevent Flights from flying through particular areas (ex. a threat).
• No top-off Refueling. Flights can refuel only on the way to or from their orbit/route. They won’t depart an orbit to cycle through air refueling, only to return to the orbit again.
• While AR accounts for the time (and fuel consumed) during refueling, it does not account for the time or fuel spent during rendezvous or joinup.
  Other missions. Some missions don’t yet air refuel (ex. BPI, SWSurv, UWSurv, IntraAirlift, Strategic Airlift, or even Air Refueling)
• Fuel consumptions. There is currently no provision for a platform to use different consumption rates depending on its mission, its configuration (ex. additional drag due to a particular SCL), or to carry additional fuel in certain configurations (ex. drop tanks).
• CONOPS. Even though flight activity will be curtailed in fuel-constrained situations, a human-in-the-loop would likely change the entire CONOPS in reaction to limited fuel availability (ex. greater emphasis on defensive missions and alerts).