Stingray UAV refuels US Navy Hawkeye for the first time

摘要

The US Navy's (USN) Unmanned Carrier Aviation programme has completed its first aerial refuelling flight with the prototype E-2D Advanced Hawkeye (166501/SD-501) in the hands of pilots from Air Test and Evaluation Squadron Two Zero (VX-20).Throughout the six-hour sortie from MidAmerica Airport in Mascoutah, Illinois on August 18, the Boeing-owned MQ-25A Stingray, dubbed T1', transferred fuel to the E-2D during multiple contacts, performed formation evaluations, wake surveys, drogue tracking and plugs with the MQ-25 flying at 220kts at 10,000ft.