Carrier-Launched Drones to Change Navy Attack

by Kris Osborn

The Navy is preparing to launch an industry competition for a first-of-its-kind, cyber-hardened unmanned aerial refueling drone for eventual service on an aircraft carrier deck by the early to mid 2020s.

The concept of the effort, called the MQ-25 Stingray, is to fortify the Carrier Air Wing with a hack-proof unmanned refueler able to massively extend the strike and mission range of its on-board aircraft.

The service has awarded four development deals for the MQ-25 to in anticipation of a formal proposal to industry by sometime this summer, NAVAIR Spokeswoman Jamie Cosgrove told Scout Warrior. Deals went to Boeing, Lockheed Martin, General Atomics and Northrop Grumman.

The process thus far has been geared toward MQ-25A Stingray technical and task analysis efforts spanning air vehicle capabilities, carrier suitability and integration, missions systems and software — including cybersecurity,

Engineering an unmanned aerial refueling tanker able to take off from a carrier deck and support fighter jets en-route to attack missions is a vital aspect of the Navy plan to meet emerging enemy anti-ship missile threats.

The new carrier-launched tanker will be designed to extend the combat range of key carrier air-wing assets such as F/A-18 Super Hornets and F-35C Joint Strike Fighters. Such an ability is deemed vital to the Pentagon’s concern that long-range precision guided anti-ship missiles are increasingly able to target and destroy aircraft carriers at distances as far as 1,000-miles off shore.

The threat, including weapons such as the Chinese-built DF-21D missile referred to as a “carrier-killer” able to destroy targets more than 900 miles off shore, is sufficient to potentially prevent aircraft carriers from operating in closer proximity to enemy coastlines in order to project power and hold enemy targets at risk, many US military developers say.