Business · The Register
Boeing announced on Monday that it had successfully flown the MQ-25A Stingray for the first time
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Once in the skies, the Stingray undertook a predetermined mission that validated flight controls, navigation, and safe integration with the ground control station, but it doesn't appear that there were any tests of its ability to autonomously refuel naval aircraft as part of the test.
Key facts
- The MQ-25A has been in development since 2018, when the Navy awarded Boeing an $805.3 million contract to design, build, and test four aircraft
- The MQ-25A is the most complex autonomous system ever developed for the carrier environment, and this historic achievement advances them closer to safely integrating the Stingray into the carrier air
- Beyond tanker duties, the MQ-25 has multi-mission potential: It is equipped to perform intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance missions, and its adaptable design allows the Stingray
- That said, its tanker role comes first, and the Navy primarily hopes Stingrays will allow F/A-18 Super Hornets that have been reconfigured to serve as refueling craft to return to their fighter jet
Summary
The US Navy’s current carrier-based refueling aircraft may soon be getting help, as Boeing has completed the first flight of its autonomous tanker drone designed for carrier operations. Boeing announced on Monday that it had successfully flown the MQ-25A Stingray for the first time. "The MQ-25A is the most complex autonomous system ever developed for the carrier environment, and this historic achievement advances us closer to safely integrating the Stingray into the carrier air wing," Boeing Air Dominance GM and VP Dan Gillian said of the test flight. The MQ-25A has been in development since 2018, when the Navy awarded Boeing an $805.3 million contract to design, build, and test four aircraft.