NAVY, BOEING CONDUCT 1ST REFUELING BETWEEN UNMANNED TANKER, F-35C

摘要

The Navy's MQ-25 Stingray unmanned tanker recently conducted its first aerial refueling with an F-35C Joint Strike Fighter. It's the third aircraft type to take fuel from the Navy's first unmanned system designed to deploy in a future carrier strike group. Boeing's T1 test aircraft and an F-35C from the Navy's Air Test Wing and Evaluation Squadron 23 conducted a three-hour mission Sept. 13, taking off from the MidAmerica St. Louis Airport in Mascoutah, Ill., and then working through a methodical process of linking up and refueling as part of the test. The Navy pilot evaluated the unmanned aircraft and the air around it before connecting with its drogue at 225 knots and 10,000 feet altitude. An air vehicle operator at the ground control station then initiated the fuel transfer from Tl's aerial refueling store to the F-35C.