BAE Systems joins MQ-25 team
BAE Systems has become the latest company to join the Boeing MQ-25 industry team.
The company has received contracts from Boeing to supply the Vehicle Management Control System and Identification Friend or Foe (IFF) System for the MQ-25.
The Vehicle Management Control System will control all flight surfaces and perform overall vehicle management duties for the MQ-25 UAS. The IFF product ensures operation in contested environments by reliably identifying both coalition and enemy vehicles.
Corin Beck, director of military aircraft systems at BAE Systems, said: ‘BAE Systems leads the industry in high-integrity fly-by-wire and mission-critical IFF technologies. Our relationship with Boeing started more than four decades ago and has resulted in aircraft that have some of the most advanced avionics and reduced size transponders in the world.’
The MQ-25 is the US Navy’s first operational carrier-based UAS and is designed to provide a refueling capability. The contract supports Boeing’s engineering and manufacturing development programme to provide four MQ-25 aircraft to the navy for initial operational capability by 2024.
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