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X-47B Salty Dog 501 flies over USS Theodore Roosevelt on Aug. 17, 2014. US Naval Institute Photo
WASHINGTON, D.C. — Striking the balance between a tanker and a surveillance aircraft is an area of concern for Navy aviation planners and industry as they craft what will be the service’s first operational, carrier unmanned aerial vehicle, commander of Naval Air Forces said on Thursday. Read More
X-47B Unmanned Combat Air System Demonstrator (UCAS-D) launches from the aircraft carrier USS Theodore Roosevelt (CVN 71) in 2013. US Navy Photo
After months of deliberation, the name and designation of the Navy’s first carrier unmanned aerial vehicle are now official: MQ-25A Stingray, service officials told USNI News this week. Read More
The MQ-4C Triton prepares for a flight test in June 2016 at Naval Air Station Patuxent River, Md. During two recent tests, the unmanned air system completed its first heavy weight flight and demonstrated its ability to communicate with the P-8 aircraft while airborne. US Navy photo.
This post has been updated to correct a location for future Triton basing. NAVAIR told USNI News after publication that the East Coast location has not yet been finalized.
The Navy is continuing operational testing of its future unmanned long-endurance maritime surveillance aircraft, the MQ-4C Triton, demonstrating its ability to share critical mission information with the manned P-8A Poseidon multi-mission maritime patrol aircraft. Read More
The successful Critical Design Review determined that Northrop Grumman’s final design for the Advanced Explosive Ordnance Disposal Robotic System dismounted operations variant satisfies cost, schedule and mission performance requirements and demonstrates the maturity for proceeding with system fabrication, assembly, integration and test. Northrop Grumman photo.
The first increment in the Navy’s Advanced Explosive Ordnance Disposal Robotic System (AEODRS) passed its Critical Design Review (CDR) and is going into low-rate initial production, Northrop Grumman announced. Read More
The following is Federal Procurement Data System report on the top 100 U.S. contractors in FY 2015 ranked by contract dollar amounts. Read More
The following is the April 14, 2016 Congressional Research Service report, Air Force B-21 Long Range Strike Bomber. Read More
An artist’s concept of a proposed unmanned carrier vehicle design. Lockheed Martin Image
ARLINGTON, Va. — To meet the Navy’s new set of requirements for its unmanned MQ-XX Stingray carrier tanker, the service should consider a design that could expand into a stealthy, high-end strike platform, the head of Lockheed Martin Skunk Works told reporters on Tuesday. Read More
Northrop Grumman’s X-47B is loaded Monday onboard the USS George H.W. Bush (CVN-77) for a planned May, 14 2013 catapult launch. US Navy Photo
WASHINGTON, D.C. — The Navy wants to continue to tweak what it will call the Stingray — its first carrier-based unmanned aerial vehicle. Read More
A F/A-18E Super Hornet over the Gulf of Oman near the aircraft carrier USS Harry S. Truman (CVN-75). US Navy Photo
The Navy submitted a Fiscal Year 2017 unfunded requirements list to Congress this week that mirrors last year’s priorities but requests about twice as much money for items that couldn’t be squeezed into the official Fiscal Year 2017 President’s Budget request. Read More
An X-47B Unmanned Combat Air System (UCAS) demonstrator sits on an aircraft elevator of the aircraft carrier USS George H.W. Bush (CVN-77) on May 6, 2013. US Navy Photo
The Navy wants to change the Pentagon imposed designation of its RAQ-25 carrier-based unmanned aerial tanker with its own nom-de-drone – Stingray. Read More
