Aviation Naval Warfare Land Systems Small Arms By Flag By Year By Tag

Northrop Grumman MQ-25 Stingray

History of the Northrop Grumman MQ-25 Stingray

Aerospace leader Northrop Grumman has developed its MQ-25 Stingray for the U.S. Navy (USN) Carrier Unmanned Air Systems (UCAAS) to function as an unmanned combat aircraft system ( UCAV). The company has accumulated extensive experience and flight data in developing its XB-47B carrier-based UAV (details elsewhere on this website) and has proven to be a leader in the UAV space. Naval Air Systems Command (NAVAIR) is tasked with procuring approximately 72 unmanned carrier-based aircraft for the U.S.

Navy.

The name says it all

The program initially referred to the aircraft as the "RAQ-25," and the U.S. Navy alternated between the aircraft's true useas an ISR (intelligence, surveillance, reconnaissance) platform or a dedicated strike platform. However, that requirement soon turned into a dedicated carrier-based air tanker, a project titled the Carrier Airborne Refueling System (CBARS) (February 2016).

It was then further developed into the Unmanned Aircraft Carrier Aviation System (UCLAAS).

The long road

The aircraft was officially designated the MQ-25 Stingray on July 15, 2016. Northrop Grumman received the DoD development contract in October 2016 and issued a final Request for Proposal (RFP) in October 2017 It was announced on October 25 that it would no longer be advancing its MQ-25 Stringray platform for the U.S.

Navy, and mentioned a service change from the original ISR/Strike UAV to a dedicated tanker. The product will continue to be supported until the contract expires in March 2018, and four Stingrays will be delivered for engineering and manufacturing development purposes.

The U.S. Navys delay focused on a future shortfall in its fighter fleet, so resources have been directed towards filling this gap in combat capability.

The field of participants is shrinking

With Northrop gone, the remaining players include Boeing, General Atomics and Lockheed. The U.S. Navy aims to formally deploy its unmanned tankers by the mid-2020s. The field of entry for 2018 will be narrowed to a single applicant.

Project parameters (so far)

The U.S. Navy originally envisioned the MQ-25 as an unmanned aerial vehicle designed to serve a multi-role carrier role in surveillance and strike missions alongside its manned counterparts such as the Boeing F/A-18. The fourth generation of the Super Hornet. It features a hybrid wing body design and hard-to-see (stealth) features that allow it to penetrate enemy airspace.

The design is roughly similar in size to the Super Hornet and can operate autonomously or in Operates under ground operator control. In both cases, the aircraft will operate on the carrier deck as a typical USN fighter, launched from the flight deck and recovered via linkages on Nimitz- and Ford-class carriers.

X The -47B (described in detail elsewhere on this site) was designed to justify some of these project concepts and was a great success in terms of hype. Stealth qualities were eventually relaxed to allow external mount points to carry weapons or put fuel supply, while the ISR capability is designed to be a secondary quality.

The USN requires the design to be able to fly within at least 500 miles of the main carrier, which should begin delivering a 14,000-pound fuel load to the waiting aircraft. It is designed to be ready for future radar adaptations and carries a chin-mounted electro-optic/infrared sensor.

It no longer requires the weapon-carrying capability originally designed for the Stingray, nor the 12-hour mission duration window.