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MQ-25A Stingray concepts
Top to Bottom: Lockheed Martin, Boeing, General Atomics
ST. LOUIS — After years of requirements churn and program uncertainty, the signal to companies vying to build the Navy’s first operational unmanned carrier aircraft is crystal clear: the Navy wants the MQ-25A Stingray as soon as possible. Read More
Artist’s Concept of the General Atomics MQ-25 Stingray. GA Image used with permission
The Navy’s pilotless carrier-based air tanker bidders are beginning to announce development partners.
USNI News polled its writers, naval analysts and service members on what they consider the most important military and maritime stories in 2017.
The following is part of a series. Please also see Top Stories: International Acquisition, Navy Operations, Marine Corps Operations, Marine Corps and Coast Guard Acquisition, International Operations and New Administration.
2017 began with the promise of planning for a larger fleet: at the end of 2016, the Navy announced a 355-ship requirement, and the incoming Trump Administration expressed its support for a larger military and a heftier Navy. Few concrete steps were taken this year, though, to begin a buildup – though many programs that will be pivotal to the 355-ship fleet of the future reached significant programmatic milestones in 2017.
An X-47B during a March 2015 test flight. US Navy Photo
Northrop Grumman will not compete to build the service’s MQ-25A Stingray aerial refueling unmanned aerial vehicle despite being the developer of the test platform that proved a UAV could take off and land from an aircraft carrier. Read More
Gerald R. Ford (CVN 78), marking the beginning of a June day of Fast Cruise. Ford is conducting a three-day Fast Cruise to familiarize the crew with the ship’s systems for an extended period of time on June 8, 2016. US Navy Photo
India could be the first export customer for the aircraft launching system that is key to the new Gerald R. Ford-class carriers, according to reports in the Indian press this week. Read More
Artist’s Concept of the General Atomics MQ-25 Stingray. GA Image used with permission
Naval Air Systems Command has quietly released the final request for proposals to industry for the unmanned MQ-25 Stingray aerial tanker, USNI News has learned. Read More
Boeing image of the company’s MQ-25A Stingray bid. USNI News Photo
The inclusion of the unmanned MQ-25 Stingray aerial tanker into the U.S. carrier air wing could increase the effective strike range of the strike fighters aboard aircraft carriers by up to 400 nautical miles, the commander of Naval Air Forces told U.S. Naval Institute’s Proceedings. Read More
An early artist’s concept of the General Atomics Sea Avenger taken from a display monitor. The design shows a wing-body-tail configuration US Naval Institute Photo
POWAY, Calif. – The Navy, in its latest draft request for proposals issued last month, pitched four major defense firms to submit concepts for a future unmanned aerial refueling tanker that top officials say could be flying with the first aircraft carrier wing as early as 2019 or 2020. Read More
Boeing image of the company’s MQ-25A Stingray bid. USNI News Photo
The Navy issued its latest draft request for proposals for what will be the service’s first operational carrier-based unmanned aerial vehicle, U.S. Navy officials confirmed to USNI News on Thursday. Read More
Lockheed Martin MQ-25A Concept. Lockheed Martin Image
USS Dwight D. Eisenhower (CVN-69) and USS George H.W. Bush (CVN-77) will be the first two carriers to field the Navy’s MQ-25A Stingray unmanned aerial refueling tanker, a spokesperson told USNI News. Read More
