Contract For MQ-25 Aircraft Expected This Summer

A contract to build a carrier-based UAV tanker may be awarded sometime in 2018, according to the U.S. Navy.

The aircraft would be based on the X-47B UAV that was first flown in 2011 and successfully tested aboard an aircraft carrier in 2013. Aviation Week reports that concept refinement contracts were awarded to Boeing, Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman and General Atomics last year, and an RFP will likely be issued this summer.

In a white paper, U.S. Senator John McCain (R-AZ), chair of the Senate Armed Services Committee, said the Navy should have such an aircraft operational in five years. But McCain also wants the aircraft to be capable of carrying out ISR missions. "As advanced, long-range air defense systems proliferate, the carrier air wing needs aircraft with greater range that can penetrate advanced defenses and conduct strike and intelligence missions. The Navy must proceed rapidly to develop a carrier-based unmanned aircraft to perform these missions,” McCain wrote.

But the missions for tankers and intelligence-gathering aircraft are very different. Tankers need to be able to carry a heavy load of fuel, requiring more powerful engines, Meanwhile, ISR aircraft need to be able to loiter for extended periods at high altitudes, making a longer wingspan and more efficient engines necessary.

ISR aircraft also need to be stealthy, while for tankers, that is less of a concern.

The industry is working with naval aviation planners to try to find a "sweet spot" for the MQ-25 that would allow it to carry out both missions. Vice Adm. Mike Shoemaker, commander of Naval Air Forces said during a speech last year that there may be ways to "take advantage of some of the shapes already out there" to allow the aircraft to meet the requirements of both missions.

(Image from file)

FMI: www.navy.mil