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Formation flying is the disciplined flight of two or more aircraft under the command of a flight leader.
Military pilots use formations for mutual defense and concentration of firepower.
In civil aviation, formation flying is performed at air shows and is also flown for recreation. Formation flying also has been discussed as a means to reduce fuel use by minimizing drag.
Studies of birds have shown that the V formation can greatly enhance the overall aerodynamic efficiency by reducing the drag and thereby increasing the flight range.
Unmanned aerial vehicle formation flight
The challenge of achieving safe formation flight by unmanned aerial vehicles has been extensively investigated in the 21st century with aircraft and spacecraft systems. For aerial vehicles the advantages of performing formation flight include fuel saving, improved efficiency in air traffic control and cooperative task allocation. For space vehicles precise control of formation flight may enable future large aperture space telescopes, variable baseline space interferometers, autonomous rendezvous and docking and robotic assembly of space structures. One of the simplest formations used is where autonomous aircraft maintain formation with a lead aircraft which may itself be autonomous.