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Boeing Unveils New Unmanned Aerial Refueler

  • December 20, 2017

Boeing recently unveiled its new unmanned aerial refueler, for the U.S. Navy’s MQ-25 competition. The Navy launched the competition hoping to find a new aircraft with unmanned refueling capabilities that would extend the combat range of deployed Boeing F/A-18 Super Hornet, Boeing EA-18G Growler, and Lockheed Martin F-35C fighters. The MQ-25 will also have to seamlessly integrate with a carrier’s catapult and launch and recovery systems.

“Boeing has been delivering carrier aircraft to the Navy for almost 90 years,” said Don ‘BD’ Gaddis, a retired admiral who leads the refueling system program for Boeing’s Missouri-based Phantom Works technology organization. “Our expertise gives us confidence in our approach. We will be ready for flight testing when the engineering and manufacturing development contract is awarded.”

Missouri already builds the F/A-18, EA-18 and F-15 fighter jets, along with a huge array of military ordinance. And at Boeing’s manufacturing facility in St. Louis, Missouri, top talent are working on new and exciting ways to ensure the F/A-18 will be ready to meet the future challenges of aerial warfare, and have produced two T-X trainer aircraft that are a leading contender in the competition to supply the next generation of U.S. Air Force training aircraft.

And its not just military aircraft that are being made in Missouri. Boeing recently completed the manufacture of the company’s first 777X wing edge at its new composite plant in St. Louis, which opened last year, and is Boeing’s first commercial aircraft facility in Missouri.

For more on Missouri’s aerospace and defense manufacturing check out our industry page, or contact Steve Johnson, CEO of Missouri Partnership, at 314.725.2688 or via our contact form, for more information on Missouri.

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