That said, I don't know what Voyagers offload rate to an F-35 is. But when it is single hose only, which I've experienced several times, I know it is at least halved.
Huh?? Offload rate is dependent upon the capability of the receiver to take fuel (which is about the square root of cock all as far as a Typhoon is concerned) or the capability of the pod if that is more limiting. Pod capability should
not be affected by 'single hose' operation unless something out of the ordinary has caused it, such as the loss of the ability to transfer tanker fuel to the relevant section of the pod gallery.
Slower overall rate for a 4-ship would depend upon disconnect to contact time and intra-formation receiver movement. But even in the worst case, burn rate for an in-contact receiver should only be about 10% of the normal pod offload rate.
Clever automated tanker trail planning (which Voyager does not have
) allows for time for an assumed deceleration and/or descent from cruise IAS/Alt to AAR cruise/alt, an assumed manoeuvre time at refuelling consumption rate, the time in contact at refuelling consumption rate, an assumed manoeuvre time after disconnect at refuelling consumption rate and an assumed time to regain cruise IAS/Alt. The 'ring pucker time' assumed between making contact and reaching the abort point must also be considered. Many of these factors should be different for single hose operation as it should be considered to be an abnormal procedure.