U.S. Navy gets one step closer to autonomous refueling tankers
NewsMissiles & BombsPRESS RELEASES
By
Dylan Malyasov
Mar 16, 2021
Modified date: 5 seconds ago
Aerospace giant Boeing announced the new milestones of the U.S. Navy’s MQ-25 unmanned aerial refueling program.
In a release Monday, American plane-maker said the MQ-25 T1 marked on a recent test flight a few milestones – its longest flight to date at more than six hours, as well as its highest flight to date with test points at 30,000 feet in altitude.
The ongoing flights continue to yield valuable lessons on aircraft performance and functionality well before the Navy receives its first MQ-25 for testing.
“We’ve modified the normal ‘buy-build-test’ acquisition development model,†said Dave Bujold, MQ-25 program director. “Instead of testing last, we’re testing first. The result is an enormous amount of data that informs our production of the Navy’s MQ-25.â€
https://defence-blog.com/news/u-s-navy-gets-one-step-closer-to-autonomous-refueling-tankers.html