The aircraft carrier USS Ronald Reagan’s Unmanned Air Warfare Center recently successfully tested an unmanned aerial refueler MQ-25A Stingray more than 2,100 miles away.
The Stingray was located at a Boeing facility in Illinois while the ship was in the Pacific Ocean. The crew used its MD-5C Ground Control Station to connect beyond line-of-sight with an MQ-25A test aircraft using a proliferated low earth orbit satellite network.
“The MQ-25A Stingray’s carrier-based refueling capabilities enable F/A-18 Super Hornets to fly farther and longer,” Hung Cao, acting secretary of the Navy, said. “The integration of this unmanned aerial refueler demonstrates the transformational change our manned and unmanned asset integration provides the fleet.”
The MQ-25A is the first fully integrated, carrier-based unmanned aerial vehicle, and the test marks the first connection between a carrier and an MQ-25A aircraft. It is pathfinder for the future of unmanned carrier aviation, the Navy said.
The Stingray will provide the carrier air wing with essential organic refueling which will allow more F/A-18E/F aircraft to focus on strike missions and expand the operational reach of the air wing.
The test was one in a series designed to validate procedures, networks and interfaces. Previous tests were conducted pier side and at sea.