- Autonomous tanker aircraft completes two-hour maiden flight to validate core flight systems
- The MQ-25A will replace fighter aircraft in the aerial refueling role aboard aircraft carriers
- More testing planned before transition to carrier rating operations in Maryland
The U.S. Navy’s MQ-25A Stingray autonomous tanker aircraft, the service’s first operational unmanned aerial refueler, has completed its maiden flight.
The two-hour test took place over southern Illinois, where the aircraft performed a series of maneuvers to validate its basic flight controls and onboard operations.
During the mission, the drone followed a predetermined plan that included taxiing, taking off, flying and landing autonomously, all activated through commands issued from the MD-5 Ground Control Station of the Unmanned Carrier Aviation Mission Control System.
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The Navy plans autonomous operations
Air vehicle pilots established the route and defined waypoints before launch, then monitored performance throughout the flight and maintained the ability to abort or adjust the mission if necessary.
The aircraft handled propulsion, guidance, subsystems and flight controls on its own once the mission began, showing how the US Navy plans to execute autonomous operations while maintaining human oversight.
“Today’s successful flight builds on years of learning from our MQ-25A T1 prototype and represents an important maturation of the program,” said Dan Gillian, vice president and general manager, Boeing Air Dominance.
“The MQ-25A is the most complex autonomous system ever developed for the aircraft carrier environment, and this historic achievement brings us closer to safely integrating the Stingray into the carrier air wing.”
The Stingray fills a very specific gap in carrier operations, taking over the aerial refueling role currently held by the F/A-18 Super Hornets and freeing them to return to attack and combat roles.
Rear Admiral Tony Rossi, executive director of the US Navy’s unmanned aviation and strike weapons program, said: “The MQ-25A is not just an aircraft – it is the first step in integrating unmanned aerial refueling onto the deck of the aircraft carrier, directly enabling our manned fighters to fly further and faster.”
Previous testing using the MQ-25A T1 prototype helped lay the groundwork for this flight, and that previous demonstrator logged approximately 125 flight hours to prove the concept before the production aircraft took over.
DefenseScoop reports that the test also validated the Rolls-Royce AE 3007N engine and confirmed integration with the ground control system that operators will rely on once the aircraft moves into carrier testing.
More test flights are scheduled from MidAmerica St. Louis Airport before the aircraft transitions to Naval Air Station Patuxent River in Maryland, where preparations for carrier qualification flights will begin.
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