By Dean Murray
The United States has shown off the first flight of the robot aircraft set to make jet fighter missions more deadly.
The autonomous MQ-25A Stingray will refuel warplanes in mid-flight to allow them to carry out missions for longer.
Developers Boeing and the U.S. Navy say they successfully completed the first two-hour test flight of an operational model.
The Navy’s MQ-25A Stingray takes its first flight on April 25 at Boeing’s facility at MidAmerica Airport in Mascoutah, Illinois. (Naval Air Warfare Center via SWNS)
During the flight, the unmanned aircraft successfully demonstrated its ability to autonomously taxi, take off, fly, land and respond to commands from the Unmanned Carrier Aviation Mission Control System MD-5 Ground Control Station.
The MQ-25A Stingray will be used mainly as a carrier-based aerial refueling drone for the U.S. Navy.
It will help refuel fighter jets at sea, extend the range of the carrier air wing and free up F/A-18 Super Hornets to focus on strike missions. It may also be used for surveillance and other support roles from an aircraft carrier.
The autonomous MQ-25A Stingray will refuel warplanes in mid-flight to allow them to carry out missions for longer. (Naval Air Warfare Center via SWNS)
Boeing said: "The milestone advances the Stingray closer to aircraft carrier operations and marks the beginning of a new era in naval aviation."
Dan Gillian, vice president and general manager, Boeing Air Dominance, said: "Today's successful flight builds on years of learning from our MQ-25A T1 prototype and represents a major maturation of the program.
"The MQ-25A is the most complex autonomous system ever developed for the carrier environment, and this historic achievement advances us closer to safely integrating the Stingray into the carrier air wing."
The plane successfully completed the first two-hour test flight of an operational model. (Naval Air Warfare Center via SWNS)
The aircraft is the first of four Engineering Development Model aircraft that will be delivered to the Navy under the original $805 million Engineering and Manufacturing Development contract.
Boeing and the Navy will conduct additional test flights out of MidAmerica St. Louis Airport to further validate the aircraft's flight controls and capabilities before transitioning to Naval Air Station Patuxent River, Maryland, to prepare for carrier qualifications.