(Washington) The US navy concerned about the proliferation of anti-carrier weapons has quite right hit upon the idea of refuelling its strike aircraft mid air in which to give them the extra legs needed in which to keep the carriers safe and the enemy guessing . A big tanker would light up the sky something rotten and give the game away, so the Navy wanted something smaller. They decided on a UAV and opened up a competition with the remit being the UAV has to unload seven tons of gas to other aircraft after
flying 500 miles from the carrier and then have enough fuel to return . Well Boeing revealed their entry and it looks pretty good. Say hello to the MQ-25 Stingray
Whoever wins , the initial contact will be for just four airframes that aren't scheduled to arrive until 2024. The Navy says it will begin buying MQ-25s in bulk two years later if it likes what it sees, with up to 76 airframes being delivered in total.
The other competitors are Lockheed Martin with its Sea Ghost and the General
Atomics Sea Avenger.
