MASCOUTAH, Ill. — The St. Louis-based defense division of Boeing Co. (NYSE: BA) this week said that for the first time it's flown one of its unammed aerial vehicles equipped with the ability to refuel other aircraft.
The test flight, conducted at MidAmerica St. Louis Airport in Mascoutah with the U.S. Navy, marks a key milestone in efforts to develop an unmanned aerial refueler, Boeing said in a news release.
The 2.5-hour flight on Wednesday involved the MQ-25 T1 unmanned aerial vehicle equipped with the Cobham ARS, or aerial refueling store, which is currently used by F/A-18s for air-to-air refueling. The flight was aimed at testing the aircraft's aerodynamics with the ARS mounted under the wing. Pilots operated the aircraft from a ground control station at MidAmerica Airport.
“Having a test asset flying with an ARS gets us one big step closer in our evaluation of how MQ-25 will fulfill its primary mission in the fleet – aerial refueling,” Capt. Chad Reed, the U.S. Navy’s Unmanned Carrier Aviation program manager, said in a news release. “T1 will continue to yield valuable early insights as we begin flying with F/A-18s and conduct deck handling testing aboard a carrier.”
The Boeing-owned MQ-25 TI is a predecessor to a new model under production from a 2018 federal contract award. The older model is being used for early learning as Boeing moves forward into rapid development and test of the MQ-25. The T1 over the past year had flown about 30 hours prior to the ARS modification.
Click here for the full story.
