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First US Navy MQ-25A Stingray Maiden Flight
The US Navy’s MQ-25A Stingray successfully completed its first test flight from Boeing’s facility at MidAmerica Airport in Mascoutah, Illinois, Apr. 25, achieving a key step for unmanned carrier operations.
The MQ-25A took off at 10:49 a.m. CDT and flew for approximately two hours. During the flight, US Navy and Boeing Air Vehicle Pilots (AVPs) controlled the aircraft from the Unmanned Carrier Aviation Mission Control System MD-5 ground control station that includes Lockheed Martin Skunk Works’ MDCX system. The AVPs executed a series of maneuvers and tests, successfully validating the aircraft’s basic flight controls, engine performance, and handling characteristics.
During first flight the Stingray executed a predetermined mission plan, which had the aircraft autonomously taxi, take off, fly and land with the push of a few buttons from AVPs.
“Achieving this first flight underscores the strong partnership between the Navy and our industry partners,” said Rear Adm. Tony Rossi, who oversees the Program Executive Office for Unmanned Aviation and Strike Weapons (PEO (U&W)), in a NAVAIR news release. “The MQ-25A is not just an aircraft; it’s the first step in integrating unmanned aerial refueling onto the carrier deck, directly enabling our manned fighters to fly further and faster. This capability is vital to the future of naval aviation.”
The historic flight was controlled by the MDCX software platform, which is the backbone of the Navy’s Unmanned Carrier Aviation Mission Control System (UMCS) MD-5 Ground Control Station (GCS). MDCX was selected as the ground control component for Boeing’s MQ-25A in 2020.
The successful first flight underscores UMCS’s ability to command and control the MQ 25A for the USN and positions MDCX as the foundational C2 platform for the Navy’s Air Wing of the Future.
T1 prototype
“Today’s successful first flight relied on the seamless integration between a MQ-25 aircraft and Lockheed Martin’s ground control station,” Rossi continued. “This milestone proves the strength of our partnership in developing the command-and-control infrastructure necessary to operate unmanned platforms safely and effectively from our carriers.”
“Our MDCX open architecture C2 solution integrated seamlessly with a Boeing MQ-25A, delivering secure UAV control for its first flight,” said OJ Sanchez, vice president and general manager of Skunk Works, in a Lockheed Martin news release. “This achievement is a result of our enduring partnership with the U.S. Navy to expand its capabilities and interoperability by enabling a single carrier-based command station to control multiple uncrewed vehicles to advance its Air Wing of the Future vision.”
This milestone is the latest proof point of MDCX delivering a ready-now, open-architecture, secure C2 and autonomy capability.
“Today’s successful flight builds on years of learning from our MQ-25A T1 prototype and represents a major maturation of the program,” said Dan Gillian, vice president and general manager, Boeing Air Dominance, in a company news release. “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 Boeing-owned MQ-25A T1 test asset first flew in 2019 and accumulated approximately 125 hours in the air over the course of its lifetime. The prototype T1 laid the groundwork for the first US Navy MQ-25A that successfully completed its April 25 test flight.
Closer to aircraft carrier operations
The MQ-25A is an autonomous aircraft with a human on the decision-making loop.
AVPs create flight routes and establish the waypoints for the aircraft’s flight. Once the AVP gives the command, the Stingray’s onboard autonomy manages all onboard systems including propulsion, subsystems, guidance, and flight control. During the flight, AVPs continue to monitor the aircraft’s health and performance from the UMCS and have the ability to abort or change the mission profile as needed to achieve success.
The MQ-25A Stingray is the US Navy’s first operational, carrier-based unmanned aircraft system, designed primarily to serve as an aerial refueling tanker. The aircraft’s much-needed autonomous aerial refueling capability will extend the operational range of the carrier air wing and allow the F/A-18 Super Hornets currently performing the aerial refueling role to focus on their primary role as a multi-role strike fighter.
“The successful first flight officially initiates the rigorous flight test program, which will focus on expanding the aircraft’s performance envelope and verifying all mission systems,” said Capt. Daniel Fucito, Unmanned Carrier Aviation program manager (PMA-268).
The milestone advances the Stingray closer to aircraft carrier operations.
The MQ-25A integrated test team will continue ground control station integration, expanding the flight envelope, and verifying performance parameters prior to its ferry flight to Pax River later this year.
Photo credit: Boeing
