Boeing Testing MQ-25 Stingray UAS Tanker

Boeing Co. has painted a portion of the tarmac at Lambert Field in St. Louis to resemble the flight deck of an aircraft carrier as it begins testing a prototype of its unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) that is competing for a U.S. Navy contract for an unmanned carrier-based refuelling tanker.

According to Boeing, the threshold requirement for the unmanned tanker is offloading 14,000 pounds of fuel to an aircraft flying 500 nautical miles from the carrier. The Navy currently uses manned strike aircraft that have been modified to serve as refuelling planes. The drone is not a stealth-capable vehicle, and the contract does not include any survivability requirements. The Navy has not yet indicated how many of these tankers it plans to purchase.

The MQ-25 must be capable of refueling the Navy’s F/A-18 Super Hornet and the EA-18G Growler (both Boeing aircraft) and the F-35C Joint Strike Fighter from Lockheed Martin.

The drone has not yet flown, but Boeing expects to have the UAV in the air before the contract award date. Here’s a photo of the aircraft taken at Lambert Field and provided by Boeing.

Boeing has also released this video which shows that the inlet in the nose is actually an auxiliary intake or perhaps a cooling vent. The real inlet for the turbofan engine is instead mounted dorsally and flush with the fuselage.It’s a rare configuration choice that evokes memories of Northrop’s Tacit Blue stealth demonstrator in the early 1980s.

The video also reveals other intriguing details about Boeing’s MQ-25 design, including a retractable tail hook under the fuselage.

But other details, including the full length of the wings and stabilisers – are still not shown.

Sources: MSN News; YouTube

 

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