A system for locating the end of a boom and that of a refueling vessel in a mid-flight refueling operation from a tanker that includes means for locating the position of the inlet mouth of the fuel that is inside the vessel of the receiving plane that comprise at least one vision subsystem arranged on the tanker. Also included are means for locating the position of the boom tip comprising light emitters, placed on the boom tip, along with the vision subsystem arranged on the tanker, and processing means constructed to use the images obtained from the locating means to allow their positions and inclinations to be exactly determined with respect to a common coordinate system.