The US Navy’s latest weapon is not a ghostly stealth bomber aircraft or a fancy new missile, but an airplane that lasts longer than everyone else in the air. Although the MQ-25 Stingray resembles little more than a fuel tanker delivered by air, it’s redesigning how America extends the range of carriers and projects power across the world.
The initial successful flights weren’t typical. The unmanned plane consumed hundreds of pounds of fuel during repeated hookups, demonstrating it could carry out a mission requiring precision and trust between aircraft.
Each flight did more than demonstrate a point—it yielded valuable insights into airflow over the airplane, how its systems reacted to stress, and how it survived intact in the harsh arena of naval aviation.
Of course, getting the Stingray airborne on camera is only half the trick. The drone has to fly over one of the busiest and most heavily regulated places in the world: an aircraft carrier deck. When it is taken out over the ocean, it has already been tested for stress and turned at a mock carrier deck at Chambers Field in Norfolk by sailors and engineers.
Simulated flight operations and deck lanes marked have worked to provide a method by which the MQ-25 can launch, store, and taxi around without disrupting the well-practiced rhythm of manned aircraft.
The road to fleet deployment of the Stingray has not been smooth sailing. As with most high-propped defense programs, it has been delayed and beset by problems. The Inspector General of the Navy also griped about test and readiness issues, including tough decisions in trying to achieve deadlines.
Vice Admiral Carl Chebi captured the challenge in a nutshell when he stated, “There’s a lot of work to make MQ-25 by ’25.” Boeing has been more bullish, however, with executives describing the Stingray as the most capable and dependable unmanned plane Boeing has ever built.
The cost of the MQ-25 is not new, but it provides a solution. F/A-18 Super Hornets were taken out of combat flying for years to be used as tankers, taking jets out of commission. The Stingray, which can carry 15,000 pounds of fuel and travel more than 1,500 nautical miles, will be performing that mission and releasing the fighters to do what they were designed to do.
It also increases the endurance of the carrier air wing, pushing the Navy’s strike capability out beyond the ship. Rear Admiral Stephen Tedford has aptly described it by referring to the MQ-25 as “the F-18 length with E-2 wingspan,” constructed solid enough to be able to survive the harsh realities of life aboard a carrier.
But Stingray is worth more than gas. It is the dawn of an era when manned and unmanned aircraft coexist in the skies as part of integrated operations. The hybrid wing dream—faster, more integrated, and able to handle future threats—has been articulated by top Navy leaders who see the MQ-25 as part of the vision, but not the vision itself.
MQ-25 is not just another plane to be added to the Navy’s inventory. It’s a test bed for the future, proof positive that unmanned systems can be effectively integrated into the carrier environment. Success will not only stand to alter the way the Navy does business now, but also how it starts to solve the problems of the future.
