US Navy confirms MQ-25 Stingray first flight tests for this year
An MQ-25 Stingray undergoes testing aboard the USS George H.W. Bush. (Photo: Boeing)
The system will be the world’s first operational, carrier-based unmanned aircraft, according to the US Navy.
The US Navy’s (USN) tanker and carrier MQ-25 Stingray UAV will start flight tests with the branch this year. The information was confirmed last week by the Commander of the Naval Air Forces, VAdm Daniel L. Cheever.
Speaking in a webinar conducted by the US-based think tank Center for International and Strategic Studies (CSIS), Cheever claimed that the “MQ-25 will fly in 2025 and then do the integration on the carrier in 26”.
The system is planned to be part of tomorrow’s Carrier Air Wing (CVW) operating from all the branch’s Nimitz and Ford class vessels.
According to the USN,
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