A Boeing unmanned MQ-25 aircraft is given operating directions on the flight deck aboard the aircraft carrier USS George H.W. Bush (CVN 77) on Dec. 13, 2021 in the Atlantic Ocean. U.S. Navy Photo
The prototype for the Navy’s unmanned refueling tanker has wrapped up deck handling tests aboard an aircraft carrier off the East Coast. Read More
MQ-25A being lifted aboard carrier USS George H.W. BUsh (CVN-77) on Nov 30, 2021. US Navy Photo
THE PENTAGON – The prototype for the Navy’s unmanned refueling tanker is now aboard a U.S. Navy aircraft carrier ahead of at-sea testing. Read More
The following is the Nov. 3, 2021, Congressional Research Service report: Air Force F-15EX Eagle II Fighter Program. Read More
The following is the Sept. 22, 2021 Congressional Research Service report, Air Force B-21 Raider Long-Range Strike Bomber. Read More
An MQ-25 test asset, known as T1, conducts its first aerial refueling test flight with an F-35C Lightning II Sept. 13, 2021 near MidAmerica St. Louis Airport in Mascoutah, Illinois. Boeing Photo
The Boeing prototype MQ-25A T1 unmanned carrier tanker refueled an F-35C Lighting II Joint Strike Fighter as part of early testing for the program, Naval Air Systems Command announced on Tuesday. Read More
MQ-25 Stingray T1 test asset refuels an E-2D aircraft Aug. 18, 2021, at MidAmerica Airport in Illinois. Boeing Photo
Boeing’s prototype for the Navy’s first unmanned aerial tanker successfully refueled its second aircraft type in a test over Illinois, the service announced on Thursday. Read More
An E-2D Advanced Hawkeye with VAW-120 is refueled in the air. US Navy Photo
NATIONAL HARBOR, Md. — With production coming to an end in four years, the Navy is working out a plan to sustain the E-2D Advanced Hawkeye command-and-control aircraft for at least another 30. Read More
F/A-18F Super Hornets, assigned to Strike Fighter Squadron (VFA) 41, fly over the aircraft carrier USS John C. Stennis (CVN-74) in the Atlantic Ocean, May 9, 2019. US Navy Photo
NATIONAL HARBOR, Md. — If Congress mandates the Navy keep buying the current F/A-18E/F Super Hornets, the airframes will be in the fleet into the 2050s. But by then, the fourth-generation fighters likely couldn’t stand up to future threats, a service official said Tuesday. Read More
The MQ-25 T1 test asset refuels the Navy F/A-18 during a flight June 4 at MidAmerica Airport in Illinois. Boeing Photo
Lawmakers are asking the Navy to start adding capabilities to the emerging MQ-25A Stingray unmanned carrier tankers that are set to join the fleet in the next few years, service officials said. Read More
MQ-25 T1 test asset refuels a Navy F/A-18 during a flight on June 4, 2021 at MidAmerica Airport in Illinois. This flight demonstrated that the MQ-25 Stingray can fulfill its tanker mission using the Navy’s standard probe-and-drogue aerial refueling method. Boeing Photo
This post has been updated with additional comments from Boeing and the Navy.
A prototype unmanned aerial tanker refueled a F/A-18F Super Hornet fighter last week in a first-of-its-kind test ahead of introducing drones to the Navy’s carrier flight decks, Naval Air Systems Command and Boeing announced on Monday. Read More
