MQ-25 Stingray. Boeing art
Forbes: The U.S. Navy’s New Drone Could Team Up With Stealth Fighters
The U.S. Navy is spending $13 billion buying 72 MQ-25 Stingray tanker drones for its 11 aircraft carriers. The idea is for the Boeing BA -made MQ-25s to refuel manned fighters, extending their range while also relieving the fighter squadrons of their own tanking duties.
But the MQ-25 always had potential to be more than just an aerial-refueler. With its stealthy airframe and high endurance, it could be a surveillance plane and even a light strike platform, too.
At least one fleet community isn’t waiting for the Navy and Boeing to adapt the MQ-25 to other missions. The fleet’s airborne command-and-control weapons school at Naval Base Ventura County in Point Mugu, California, already thinks of the Stingray as more than a tanker.
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WNU Editor: That is a lot of money for 72 drones.