The Ship Model Forum

Lockheed Martin Unveils MQ-25 'Stingray' Tanker Drone Design for the Navy

Lockheed Skunk Works' design will compete with Boeing and General Atomics to build an unmanned, carrier-launched refueling plane.
By Jay Bennett
Mar 26, 2018

Lockheed Martin's Advanced Development Programs, better known as Skunk Works, has released concept images of its MQ-25 'Stingray' design, an unmanned carrier-launched tanker plane. The refueling drone will compete against designs from Boeing and General Atomics for a Navy contract to build a fleet of the aircraft.

The Navy's MQ-25 program seeks a refueling drone that can perform catapult-launched takeoffs and arrested landings on aircraft carriers. The tanker should be capable of passing 14,000 lbs. of fuel to other planes at a range of 500 nautical miles from the carrier. Such a tanker could significantly extend the operating range of carrier-based fighter jets like the F/A-18E/F Super Hornet and F-35C Joint Strike Fighter. A Super Hornet, for example, has a strike range of about 450 nautical miles. The Stingray could extend that range to more than 700 nmi.

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Boeing preps for next test of US Navy’s future aerial tanker drone
By: David B. Larter   1 day ago
WASHINGTON — The U.S. Navy’s aircraft carrier-borne tanker drone, the MQ-25 Stingray, is preparing to head into the fall resuming test flights, this time with the crucial fuel store pod attached.
The store pod — the same one integrated into the Navy’s stalwart F/A-18 Super Hornet for aerial refueling — was recently integrated into the MQ-25 test article under the wing.
“When we resume flight testing later this year, we’ll have the opportunity to gather test points about the aerodynamics of that pod and the software commands that control it — all happening well before we deliver the Navy’s first MQ-25 jet with the same pod,” MQ-25 program director Dave Bujold said in a statement from the aircraft’s manufacturer, Boeing.
“That early testing and early software development is a big part of supporting the Navy’s goal to get MQ-25 to the fleet as quickly as possible,” he added.
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U.S. Navy gets one step closer to autonomous refueling tankers
NewsMissiles & Bombs

PRESS RELEASES
By Dylan Malyasov

Mar 16, 2021
Modified date: 5 seconds ago

Aerospace giant Boeing announced the new milestones of the U.S. Navy’s MQ-25 unmanned aerial refueling program.
In a release Monday, American plane-maker said the MQ-25 T1 marked on a recent test flight a few milestones – its longest flight to date at more than six hours, as well as its highest flight to date with test points at 30,000 feet in altitude.
The ongoing flights continue to yield valuable lessons on aircraft performance and functionality well before the Navy receives its first MQ-25 for testing.

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Aircraft carrier Bush conducts first at-sea MQ-25 unmanned tanker demo
By Megan Eckstein
Dec 21, 10:47 AM

WASHINGTON — The aircraft carrier George H.W. Bush has spent the past two weeks showing off the future of naval aviation, hosting the U.S. Navy’s first MQ-25A Stingray unmanned tanker for an at-sea demonstration and conducting that carrier’s first F-35C Joint Strike Fighter flight operations.

The service announced Dec. 20 it had completed an unmanned carrier aviation demonstration, installing a ground control station on the ship and proving the UAV could integrate into that carrier environment: on a pitching flight deck, with the operator following the hand signals of the aircraft handlers, and with ship-based operators maintaining connectivity even while the drone is midair and away from the carrier.

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