US Navy’s UCLASS / CBARS / MQ-XX / MQ-25 Stingray Program

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sO6LtHdHkns

www.navy.mil

MQ-25 Achieves Another First, Conducts Air-to-Air Refueling with E-2D

Naval Air Systems Command, Patuxent River, Md. - The Navy’s Unmanned Carrier Aviation program completed its first aerial refueling flight with an E-2D aircraft Aug.18 at Mid-America Airport in
www.navy.mil
boeing.mediaroom.com

U.S. Navy, Boeing Score Another MQ-25 First with E-2D Refueling

ST. LOUIS, Aug. XX, 2021 – The U.S. Navy and Boeing [NYSE: BA] have completed a second carrier-based aircraft unmanned refueling mission with the Boeing-owned MQ-25TM T1 test asset, this time...
boeing.mediaroom.com boeing.mediaroom.com
 
Sundog said:
Well, I didn't see this coming. The MQ-25 will be built in Illinois at the Mid-America airport
News Link
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Not a whole lot of excess room at Lambert, especially if T-7A will be built there and I am sure that State of Illinois sweetened the $$$ incentives to be at Mid-America.

Enjoy the Day! Mark
 
Drats, I had totally forgotten to post this last week:
thehill.com

Boeing to invest $200M to build Navy aircraft at St. Louis airport

Boeing will invest $200 million to build the Navy’s newest unmanned aircraft at MidAmerica St. Louis Airport in Illinois, the Chicago-based aerospace company announced Friday.Boeing will build the …
thehill.com thehill.com
 
Mark Nankivil said:
Sundog said:
Well, I didn't see this coming. The MQ-25 will be built in Illinois at the Mid-America airport
News Link
Click to expand...
Not a whole lot of excess room at Lambert, especially if T-7A will be built there and I am sure that State of Illinois sweetened the $$$ incentives to be at Mid-America.

Enjoy the Day! Mark
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You know, I had forgotten just how much work they have at Lambert, as I was just thinking about the Super Hornet. But I hadn't thought about T-7A production and the F-15EX. Thanks for pointing that out.
 
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aonestudio said:
View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZQMiDALbBdA&t=41s

news.usni.org

VIDEO: Navy Wraps Up MQ-25A Deck Handling Tests on Carrier USS George H.W. Bush - USNI News

The prototype for the Navy’s unmanned refueling tanker has wrapped up deck handling tests aboard an aircraft carrier off the East Coast. The service performed tests of the T-1 prototype aboard USS George H.W. Bush (CVN-77) to assess how the aircraft functioned aboard the flight deck in winds of...
news.usni.org news.usni.org
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Interesting that the airframe is not a Navy one but still owned by Boeing (N#). That doesn't happen very often....
 
Mark Nankivil said:
aonestudio said:
View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZQMiDALbBdA&t=41s

news.usni.org

VIDEO: Navy Wraps Up MQ-25A Deck Handling Tests on Carrier USS George H.W. Bush - USNI News

The prototype for the Navy’s unmanned refueling tanker has wrapped up deck handling tests aboard an aircraft carrier off the East Coast. The service performed tests of the T-1 prototype aboard USS George H.W. Bush (CVN-77) to assess how the aircraft functioned aboard the flight deck in winds of...
news.usni.org news.usni.org
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Interesting that the airframe is not a Navy one but still owned by Boeing (N#). That doesn't happen very often....
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Is it because they built it with their own funds for that other UCAV program before they offered it for the MQ-25A program?
 
https://jaesan-aero.blogspot.com/2022/01/mq-25-analysis-w-openvsp-and.html

Own Reverse Engineering(?) of MQ-25 and Analysis

Sizing and OpenVSP + in-house code for Mission Analysis

As a result, aerodynamic model + empty weight 6.5t w/ 1.7t internal fuel satisfy known USN's ROC deliverying 7.2t fuel at 500nm. It would be very much fuel-saving option than current Super Hornet tanker.

L/D is 12~17 during mission profile similar to level of airliner due to the effort of high AR straight wing. Directional instability is shown because highly canted v-tail did not produce enough projected area. Canted angle less than 60deg can make aircraft stable but 70deg is more probable from public image. This instability is probably supplemented by yaw-damper control configuration.

Mission analysis shows that aircraft can have very long range if it can use refueling gas for its own as long as twin aisle airliners.

2x500lb patrol at 25kft or 35kft results 500~770nm range or 2~3hr patrol time except climb and descent phase.

If fuel on board can be fully used (extracting more internal fuel from excepting external fuel from maximum fuel), 2000nm radius or 10hr patrol.


- Conclusion

Conventional glider or MQ-xx style design gave highly efficient patrol or cruise mission; small number of MQ-25 could cover 24hr or long range mission.

Although MQ-25 is not suited for high level threat environment, it could cover most of low level threat mission requiring exhausting sorties for expensive manned aircraft like Super Hornet and Lightning.

Still there is no 100% credit for unmanned aircraft for complex mission; MQ-25 can be good option fulfill most of the proven unmanned mission like aerial-refuel, ISR, low-level threat patrol, and simple ammunition launch.

Probably USN judged that X-47 like aircraft is still far-ahead for current maturity of unmanned missions.
 

MQ-25 Drone Progressing Toward New Era of Naval Aviation​


4/1/2022
By Jon Harper
The Navy’s MQ-25 Stingray drone program racked up major achievements over the past year and is on track to usher in a new era of manned-unmanned teaming.


However, service officials are still pondering whether the aircraft carrier-based tanker will be armed with offensive strike weapons.


In 2018, Boeing was awarded an $805 million engineering and manufacturing development contract to build the Stingray.


Experts say the new unmanned aerial system — the first large, fixed-wing drone that will operate from a ship and support manned planes — will have an outsized impact on the future of naval aviation[...]

The MQ-25 will be different from the iconic drones of the post-9/11 counterterrorism wars, such as the MQ-1 Predator and MQ-9 Reaper, in that it will fly autonomously and not be remotely piloted.


The way the platform operates will be similar to how commercial airlines leverage autopilot capabilities — except there won’t be any humans inside the Stingray, said Dave Bujold, MQ-25 program director at Boeing Defense, Space and Security’s autonomous systems division.


“They’re not hand-flying every stick and throttle move,” he explained in an interview. Instead, the Stingray will use a waypoint system after it is catapulted off a carrier.


“It knows where it’s supposed to go right after takeoff, and it goes there. And then from there, it continues all along its authorized mission,” he said.


Aerial refueling will be “well scripted,” and pilots on the receiving end will have communication links with the ground station overseeing the MQ-25’s mission, just like they have with manned tankers today[...]

A key question that has yet to be answered officially is whether the Stingray will be armed with missiles or other offensive systems — as some lawmakers and other observers have been advocating.


When asked if the Navy is currently considering adding strike weapons or electronic warfare capabilities, Messer said the initial focus is to introduce the platform into the air wing where it can serve its primary role as a tanker and then a “secondary” role as an intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance platform. However, the MQ-25 “does have payload capacity for mission growth in the future,” he noted[...]

However, “I expect that this platform will become a very versatile multi-mission platform, and I think the Navy gave it away when they named it MQ” with the “M” indicating a multi-mission capability, he said when asked if he anticipates additional payloads will be added to the platform such as ISR systems or strike weapons. “It’s an opportunity space.”

Clark said the Navy is already looking ahead to what the MQ-25 could do beyond tanking.


“I think they will put weapons on them,” he said.
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MQ-25 Drone Progressing Toward New Era of Naval Aviation

MQ-25 Drone Progressing Toward New Era of Naval Aviation
www.nationaldefensemagazine.org www.nationaldefensemagazine.org
 

Navy on Track to Deploy MQ-25A Carrier Tanker in 2026 on USS Theodore Roosevelt​


By: Sam LaGrone


April 6, 2022 11:02 AM

The Navy’s MQ-25A Stingray unmanned aerial refueling is set to deploy on an aircraft carrier in 2026, a service official said on Tuesday.


Vice Adm. Kevin Whitesell told a panel at the Sea Air Space 2022 symposium that the service was on track to reach initial operational capability for the MQ-25As by 2025 and deploy the aircraft on USS Theodore Roosevelt (CVN-71) by 2026.
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The Navy is considering adding more capabilities to the MQ-25As as the tankers work more with the carrier air wing, service officials have told USNI News.


“We kind of went skinny on the initial requirements for this in order to be sure that we’re able to go fast. So MQ-25 is capable of significantly more than we are asking it to do at [initial operational capability]. So at IOC, it needs to be able to operate around an aircraft carrier and be able to conduct aerial refueling and that’s as far as we went,”
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news.usni.org

Navy on Track to Deploy MQ-25A Carrier Tanker in 2026 on USS Theodore Roosevelt - USNI News

NATIONAL HARBOR, Md. – The Navy’s MQ-25A Stingray unmanned aerial refueling is set to deploy on an aircraft carrier in 2026, a service official said on Tuesday. Vice Adm. Kevin Whitesell told a panel at the Sea Air Space 2022 symposium that the service was on track to reach initial operational...
news.usni.org news.usni.org
 
Anybody hazard a guess whether the MQ-25 could carry a Boeing Enclosed Weapon Pod under each wing in place of the refueling tank?
 
The service’s FY23 budget marks the first year buying fully-fledged MQ-25A Stingrays. The J-books’ projections show a steady stream of funding to purchase four aircraft a year, starting in FY23 and running through FY27. (The service’s previous investments have been on solely on research and development efforts as well as prototype aircraft.)

To buy those unmanned aircraft, the service is seeking roughly $720 million per year in procurement funding with the intent to buy a total of 76 planes over the life of the program.
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breakingdefense.com

MQ-25 to Sealift: Five Navy budget justification book takeaways - Breaking Defense

The Navy's budget justification books are here, and they contains previously unknown details of how the service wants to spend its money.
breakingdefense.com breakingdefense.com
 
According to Young, there were options for other US services as customers, as well as international customers. However, he would not disclose if there had been conversations with other customers.

The MQ-25 UAV is designed to refuel carrier-based aircraft. The UK, France, and Italy are among allies with aircraft carriers. However, the UK's Queen Elizabeth-class carrier uses a ski-jump capability, which the MQ-25 design does not support.
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Boeing sees potential export customers for updated MQ-25 Stingray

Boeing said foreign partners could be potential customers for its updated MQ-25A Stingray unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs).
www.janes.com
 
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To state the bloody obvious it may be that the potential export customers don’t have carriers and would use it from land based.

I’d be completely speculating if I started naming countries in that context.
 

MQ-25 team completes first lab integration event | NAVAIR

The Navy’s Unmanned Carrier Aviation program office (PMA-268) conducted its first lab integration event June 28-30 at Pax River to demonstrate how the MQ-25's Ground Control Station (GCS) will command the unmanned aircraft in the carrier environment.
www.navair.navy.mil www.navair.navy.mil

Naval Air Systems Command, Patuxent River, Md.

The Navy’s Unmanned Carrier Aviation program office (PMA-268) conducted its first lab integration event June 28-30 at Pax River to demonstrate how the MQ-25's Ground Control Station (GCS) will command the unmanned aircraft in the carrier environment.

The government team and its two prime industry partners led the effort at the program’s System Test and Integration Lab (STIL), where Lockheed Martin's GCS controlled Boeing's Hardware-in-the-Loop (HITL) air vehicle for the first time. The HITL utilizes aircraft hardware and software to provide a realistic surrogate for the air vehicle.

“This achievement is the result of weeks of preparation and dedication by highly skilled teams,” said TJ Maday, MQ-25 labs and integration manager. "Bringing multiple systems together is never easy, but the joint government/industry team, coming together, understanding problems and finding solutions made this event successful. We learned how the system works as a whole and that early learning and discovery is key to keep the program moving forward."

Maday said the team set a goal to send a basic command between the GCS and the HITL. In order to meet that objective, Boeing and Lockheed Martin needed to deliver functional software for the government to exercise the GCS, the HITL and the network components allowing connectivity between the systems.

"The team met the initial goal ahead of schedule and used the remaining time to exercise more functionality like sending taxi commands," Maday said. "They also simulated a lost link that verified the proper GCS display indicators, which is a critical function to ensure network connectivity between development environments."

This fall the team plans to simulate a complete flight using the HTIL air vehicle and will also demonstrate switching connections “links” to the aircraft as well as adding other aircraft hardware and software into the mix.

“It’s great to see the combined team working side-by-side, learning and ultimately demonstrating success,” said Capt. Sam Messer, PMA-268 program manager. “This is how we get to IOC [Initial Operational Capability]—we integrate, test, and learn early and at pace.”

The MD-5 GCS is part of the Unmanned Carrier Aviation Mission Control System (UMCS), the system-of-systems required for MQ-25A command and control. UMCS also includes carrier and shore site infrastructure modifications, Navy produced ancillary equipment, and integration with command, control, communications, computers and intelligence (C4I) systems.
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Contract for long lead items :
The funds will be used to procure initial spare parts and repair equipment for the Stingray, which is poised to become the USN’s first-ever carrier-launched fixed-wing aircraft that operates without a crew. Instead, the MQ-25 is capable of autonomous take-off, flight and landing back on the carrier.
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www.flightglobal.com

Boeing lands $57m contract for support of unmanned carrier tanker

The aerospace manufacturer is currently testing the US Navy's first ever carrier-based autonomous refuelling aircraft.
www.flightglobal.com www.flightglobal.com
 
My big worry is the manning. They handed MQ-25 to the E-2 squadrons...which have no desire for it and therefore plan to recruit dedicated warrant officer operators for them. Meaning that no E-2 pilot or NFO will get "drone cooties" from touching the thing.

Not a way to build a community that will have any staying power. It stands in stark contrast to the MQ-4, which the VP community has embraced (or at least accepted).
 
Mike OTDP said:
My big worry is the manning. They handed MQ-25 to the E-2 squadrons...which have no desire for it and therefore plan to recruit dedicated warrant officer operators for them. Meaning that no E-2 pilot or NFO will get "drone cooties" from touching the thing.

Not a way to build a community that will have any staying power. It stands in stark contrast to the MQ-4, which the VP community has embraced (or at least accepted).
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Why didn't they just make their own unit? Drones aren't going anywhere. You'd think they'd have figured that out by now.
 
sferrin said:
Mike OTDP said:
My big worry is the manning. They handed MQ-25 to the E-2 squadrons...which have no desire for it and therefore plan to recruit dedicated warrant officer operators for them. Meaning that no E-2 pilot or NFO will get "drone cooties" from touching the thing.

Not a way to build a community that will have any staying power. It stands in stark contrast to the MQ-4, which the VP community has embraced (or at least accepted).
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Why didn't they just make their own unit? Drones aren't going anywhere. You'd think they'd have figured that out by now.
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Because the USN does not want to move the necessary personnel slots for a new unit, which means they would have to take manpower of those ranks, recode and train them. Recall that you are looking for progressive process in one of the most tradition bound conservative organizations (the U.S. Armed Services) on the planet.
 
While going through an Air International issue from almost 20 years ago (June 2003), I came across this Lockheed Martin concept for a naval 'multi-mission' UCAV.
I think it looks a lot like Boeing´s MQ-25 Stingray, though with this LM concept/design the forward fuselage may be somewhat flatter and the (not visible) intake on top may not be 'buried' like is the case with the MQ-25...
 

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