‘Tanker drone’ fuels US Navy fighter jet for first time
- Boeing MQ-25 unmanned aircraft linked up with F/A-18 Super Hornet
- Marks another step in integration of drones into military activities
An unmanned tanker aircraft has successfully refuelled a US Navy carrier-based fighter jet for the first time, the US Navy announced.
A Boeing MQ-25 T1 Stingray test drone refuelled an F/A-18 Super Hornet on Friday near MidAmerica Airport in Mascoutah, Illinois, demonstrating that the new unmanned aircraft “can fulfil its tanker mission,” the US Navy said.
Flying at operationally relevant speeds and altitudes, the F/A-18 flew as close as six metres (20 feet) behind the unmanned aerial-refuelling tanker. The MQ-25 test asset then extend the hose and drogue from the Aerial Refueling Store and plugged into the fighter to transfer the fuel.
Rear Admiral Brian Corey, who oversees the Programme Executive Office for Unmanned Aviation and Strike Weapons, said in a statement that the “MQ-25 will greatly increase the range and endurance of the future carrier air wing”.
The MQ-25 will be the world's first operational carrier-based drone. It is expected to not only provide additional intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance capabilities to US Navy aircraft carriers but also significantly extend the reach of carrier-based fighter jets, a necessity given the changing capabilities of America's rivals.
In 2013, a prototype stealth drone, the Northrop Grumman X-47B, made its first landing on a US aircraft carrier.
China's growing arsenal of anti-ship missiles with the potential to threaten US naval assets has forced the US Navy to think carefully about how it might employ its carriers in a great-power conflict.