{"id":702089,"date":"2021-09-16T04:41:42","date_gmt":"2021-09-16T08:41:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/spaceweekly.com\/?p=702089"},"modified":"2021-09-16T04:41:42","modified_gmt":"2021-09-16T08:41:42","slug":"us-navy-boeing-conduct-1st-mq-25-refueling-mission-with-f-35c","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/spaceweekly.com\/?p=702089","title":{"rendered":"US Navy, Boeing Conduct 1st MQ-25 Refueling Mission with F-35C"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"DefenceTalk<\/p>\n

The U.S. Navy and Boeing [NYSE: BA] have used the MQ-25TM T1 test asset to refuel a U.S. Navy F-35C Lightning II fighter jet for the first time, once again demonstrating the aircraft\u2019s ability to achieve its primary aerial refueling mission.<\/p>\n

This was the third refueling mission for the Boeing-owned test asset in just over three months, advancing the test program for the Navy\u2019s first operational carrier-based unmanned aircraft. T1 refueled an F\/A-18 Super Hornet in June and an E-2D Hawkeye in August.<\/p>\n

\u201cEvery test flight with another Type\/Model\/Series aircraft gets us one step closer to rapidly delivering a fully mission-capable MQ-25 to the fleet,\u201d said Capt. Chad Reed, the Navy\u2019s Unmanned Carrier Aviation program manager. \u201cStingray\u2019s unmatched refueling capability is going to increase the Navy\u2019s power projection and provide operational flexibility to the Carrier Strike Group commanders.\u201d<\/p>\n

During a test flight Sept. 13, an F-35C test pilot from the Navy\u2019s Air Test and Evaluation Squadron Two Three (VX-23) conducted a successful wake survey behind T1 to ensure performance and stability before making contact with T1\u2019s aerial refueling drogue and receiving fuel.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis flight was yet another physical demonstration of the maturity and stability of the MQ-25 aircraft design,\u201d said Dave Bujold, Boeing\u2019s MQ-25 program director. \u201cThanks to this latest mission in our accelerated test program, we are confident the MQ-25 aircraft we are building right now will meet the Navy\u2019s primary requirement \u2013 delivering fuel safely to the carrier air wing.\u201d<\/p>\n

The T1 flight test program began in September 2019 with the aircraft\u2019s first flight. In the following two years, the test program completed more than 120 flight hours \u2013 gathering data on everything from aircraft performance to propulsion dynamics to structural loads and flutter testing for strength and stability.<\/p>\n

MQ-25 is benefitting from the two years of early flight test data, which has been integrated back into its digital models to strengthen the digital thread connecting aircraft design to production to test to operations and sustainment. Boeing is currently manufacturing the first two MQ-25 test aircraft.<\/p>\n

T1 will be used to conduct a deck handling demonstration aboard a U.S. Navy carrier in the coming months to help advance the carrier integration progress.<\/p>\n

\nhttps:\/\/www.defencetalk.com\/us-navy-boeing-conduct-1st-mq-25-refueling-mission-with-f-35c-77275\/
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\n Click here for original story, US Navy, Boeing Conduct 1st MQ-25 Refueling Mission with F-35C<\/a>
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\nSource: Air Force News <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

DefenceTalk The U.S. Navy and Boeing [NYSE: BA] have used the MQ-25TM T1 test asset to refuel a U.S. Navy F-35C Lightning II fighter jet for the first time, once… <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":702090,"comment_status":"false","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[28],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-702089","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-air-force-space-command"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/spaceweekly.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/702089","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/spaceweekly.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/spaceweekly.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/spaceweekly.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/spaceweekly.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=702089"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/spaceweekly.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/702089\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/spaceweekly.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/702090"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/spaceweekly.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=702089"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/spaceweekly.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=702089"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/spaceweekly.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=702089"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}