Boeing Demonstrates MQ-25 Refueling Command By F/A-18
Summary
The simulation verified new software that expands the ways the uncrewed MQ-25 interacts with the crewed fighter aircraft it is intended to refuel. Boeing’s original software requires a human air vehicle operator based on board an aircraft carrier to remotely launch the refueling process by the MQ-25 flying hundreds of miles away. “MQ-25 is designed to typically receive commands from air vehicle pilots on an aircraft carrier,” said Alex Ewing, Boeing’s lead for F/A-18 New Product development. But the MQ-25’s primary role remains as an aerial refueler, allowing the Navy to avoid using the F/A-18E/F as a “buddy tanker” to extend the range of its offensive aircraft. To be able to direct the activities via a single pilot, safely and efficiently, is a major step forward in aerial refueling technology,” said Juan Cajigas, Boeing’s director for the advanced MQ-25 program.