GA-ASI maximising MQ-25 fuel capacity offload
General Atomics Aeronautical Systems (GA-ASI) has developed an integrated fuel tank structure to maximise fuel offload for the proposed MQ-25 unmanned aerial refueling aircraft for the US Navy, the company announced on 5 July.
GA-ASI developed the integrated fuel tank in a large-scale wing box test article and a full-scale wing skin pre-production validation article. The wing box tested to failure via wing bending in November 2017. In April 2018, the company also verified the production readiness of the co-cured wing and tail components using both non-destructive and destructive inspections.
A full-scale inner-wing skin demonstration article built in March 2018 verified the MQ-25 tooling concepts, lamination approach and processes. The team validated the outer mould line tooling approach for the build process which enables accelerated engineering and tooling fabrication for the MQ-25 programme.
David Alexander, president, aircraft systems, GA-ASI, said: ‘The integral fuel tank wing box test article will reduce technical and schedule risk for the programme.
'Specifically, through extensive validation of fuel containment sealing methods, advanced non-linear buckling finite element analysis models and thick composite laminate construction, we have accelerated engineering design consideration prior to the detail design phase and production.'
More from Uncrewed Vehicles
-
US Navy foresees an uncrewed future for its surface and underwater fleet
The service has been conducting various procurement and development efforts to integrate unmanned surface and underwater vehicles into its inventory.
-
Ready for the race: Air separation drone swarms vs. air defence systems
As the dynamics of aerial combat rapidly evolve, Chinese scientists have engineered a sophisticated air separation drone model that can fragment into up to six drones, each capable of executing distinct battlefield roles and challenging the efficacy of current anti-drone defences such as the UK’s Dragonfire laser system.
-
Israel’s MALE UAVs ‘must adapt’ to Iranian-made air defences
Advancements in air defence technologies have begun to reshape aerial combat dynamics in the Middle East, as illustrated by recent events involving the Israeli Air Force and Hezbollah.
-
Hundreds more UAS sent to Ukraine forces with thousands more on the way
Both sides of the Russia-Ukraine war have been using UAS for effective low-cost attacks, as well as impactful web and social media footage. Thousands more have now been committed to Ukrainian forces.
-
AI and software companies selected for US Army Robotic Combat Vehicle subsystems
The US Army has intentions to develop light, medium and heavy variants of the Robotic Combat Vehicle (RCV) as part of the branche’s Next Generation Combat Vehicle family.