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The US has shown off the primary flight of a robot aircraft which could make jet fighter missions more deadly.
The autonomous MQ-25A Stingray will give you the chance to refuel warplanes in mid-flight, allowing for longer missions.
Developers Boeing and the US Navy say they’ve now accomplished the primary two-hour test flight of an operational model.
Through the flight, the unmanned aircraft successfully demonstrated its ability to autonomously taxi, take off, fly, land and reply to commands from the Unmanned Carrier Aviation Mission Control System MD-5 Ground Control Station.
The MQ-25A Stingray can be used mainly as a carrier-based aerial refuelling drone for the US Navy.
It is going to help refuel fighter jets at sea, extend the range of the carrier air wing and unlock F/A-18 Super Hornets to give attention to strike missions.
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It might also be used for surveillance and other support roles from an aircraft carrier.
An announcement from Boeing said: ‘The milestone advances the Stingray closer to aircraft carrier operations and marks the start of a brand new era in naval aviation.’
Dan Gillian, Vice President and General Manager of Boeing Air Dominance, said: ‘Today’s successful flight builds on years of learning from our MQ-25A T1 prototype and represents a serious maturation of this system.
‘The MQ-25A is essentially the most complex autonomous system ever developed for the carrier environment, and this historic achievement advances us closer to securely integrating the Stingray into the carrier air wing.’
The aircraft is the primary of 4 Engineering Development Model aircraft that can be delivered to the Navy under the unique $805m Engineering and Manufacturing Development contract.
Boeing and the Navy will conduct additional test flights out of MidAmerica St. Louis Airport to further validate the aircraft’s flight controls and capabilities before transitioning to Naval Air Station Patuxent River, Maryland, to organize for carrier qualifications.
The US has been ramping up its use of more advanced military weapons in recent combat operations, including 5,000-pound penetrator bombs, which have been dropped along Iran’s coastline.
The munitions, named by a government official as GBU-72 Advanced 5k Penetrator bombs, were first released in 2021.
The US released them over Iran in hopes of reaching ‘hardened, deeply buried goal challenges’ – namely, missile silos along the Strait of Hormuz.
The Air Force said of the bombs: ‘The weapon design and its projected effectiveness were developed using advanced modelling and simulation techniques and processes before the primary warhead was forged.
‘It is a repeatable process for all future direct attack weapons. Lethality is anticipated to be substantially higher in comparison with similar legacy weapons just like the GBU-28, based on James Culliton, GBU-72 program manager.’
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