US Navy’s UCLASS / CBARS / MQ-XX / MQ-25 Stingray Program
- Thread starter fightingirish
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wtna7
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Regarding the U.S. Navy's MQ-25 program:
Contracts for 76 MQ-25 aircraft have been signed. Deliveries for "Lot 1"—totaling three aircraft—are expected to begin in 2029, with two additional aircraft entering service in Fiscal Year 2028.
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Regarding Squadrons VUQ-11 and VUQ-12: Each detachment is planned to be equipped with five MQ-25 aircraft.
VUQ-11 Detachment 5 is assigned to a forward-deployed naval unit. VUQ-10 is a training squadron and is not counted among the operational detachments.
Contracts for 76 MQ-25 aircraft have been signed. Deliveries for "Lot 1"—totaling three aircraft—are expected to begin in 2029, with two additional aircraft entering service in Fiscal Year 2028.
——
Regarding Squadrons VUQ-11 and VUQ-12: Each detachment is planned to be equipped with five MQ-25 aircraft.
VUQ-11 Detachment 5 is assigned to a forward-deployed naval unit. VUQ-10 is a training squadron and is not counted among the operational detachments.
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Had the opportunity to talk to someone working on this program, a true Gentleman.
Could ask him stupid questions, cause I know nothin' . This is basically a resume, what I remember :
Me - "Why that air intake style, I thought Naca air intakes were considered quite ineffective for feeding an engine ?"
Him - "Well the guys who designed that one found out it works quite well for what the plane has to do. Plus we can be sure no one is going to walk in front of it, that's a big plus on a carrier."
Me - "If this is going to be mainly a refueller, why the external pod for carrying the hose/drogue system ? Why not integrating the thing in the airframe ?"
Him - "Cause lot of the airframe volume is already filled with fuel, and integrating the refuelling system would have taken too much place, diminishing the capacity a lot. Basically, all the yellow panels you see on the plane are covering fuel tanks."
Me - "So it's basically a flying service station ?"
Him - "That's exactly what it is ."
View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2oWVGd9nfCw
Could ask him stupid questions, cause I know nothin' . This is basically a resume, what I remember :
Me - "Why that air intake style, I thought Naca air intakes were considered quite ineffective for feeding an engine ?"
Him - "Well the guys who designed that one found out it works quite well for what the plane has to do. Plus we can be sure no one is going to walk in front of it, that's a big plus on a carrier."
Me - "If this is going to be mainly a refueller, why the external pod for carrying the hose/drogue system ? Why not integrating the thing in the airframe ?"
Him - "Cause lot of the airframe volume is already filled with fuel, and integrating the refuelling system would have taken too much place, diminishing the capacity a lot. Basically, all the yellow panels you see on the plane are covering fuel tanks."
Me - "So it's basically a flying service station ?"
Him - "That's exactly what it is ."
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With regards to the external drogue - IIRC that was a USN program stipulation, to reduce risk. I thought the reasoning was more “we already have a piece of equipment for this that works” more than volume constraints, but I was not working on the project so I will assume he knows what he’s talking about.
(It also means that when you inevitably repurpose the "refueling drone" you did receive funding for into the multi-mission platform you didn't, you don't have to keep lugging that refueling equipment everywhere.)
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