Aerial Refueling Drone Completes First Flight

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First test flight to the U.S. Navy’s MQ-25 Stingray refueling drone. The two-hour flight, remotely controlled by Boeing pilots, tested the basic flight functions of the aircraft, destined to be the first carrier-launched autonomous unmanned aircraft integrated into the service’s strike arm.

The MQ-25 Stingray is an aerial refueling drone that resulted from the Carrier-Based Aerial-Refueling System (CBARS) program, which grew out of the earlier Unmanned Carrier-Launched Airborne Surveillance and Strike (UCLASS) program. 

“The aircraft completed an autonomous taxi and takeoff and then flew a pre-determined route to validate the aircraft’s basic flight functions and operations with the ground control station,” the company release said.

The MQ-25 flown is a Boeing-owned test asset and a predecessor to the first four engineering design model aircraft provided for under last year’s contract. The model “is being used for early learning and discovery to meet the goals of the U.S. Navy’s accelerated acquisition program,” the release said, according to defensenews.com.

The eventual goal for the Navy is to have unmanned aircraft take over as its carrier-based aerial refueling tankers, relieving combat aircraft like the F/A-18E/F Super Hornet now serving in that role.