According to a press release published by Boeing on August 3, 2021, a Boeing-led team has demonstrated manned-unmanned teaming (MUM-T) capabilities in a virtual environment using the Navy’s MQ-25TM StingrayTM unmanned aerial refueler, the E-2D Advanced Hawkeye airborne command-and-control aircraft and the F/A-18 Super Hornet.
Follow Navy Recognition on Google News at this link
Boeing MQ-25 Stingray aerial refueling drone (Picture source: Defense world)
The demonstration, sponsored by the Office of Naval Research, used Northrop Grumman’s portable E-2D simulator in conjunction with Boeing’s F/A-18 and MQ-25 simulations to establish a data link network that was used to supervise MQ-25 flight operations.
The simulated mission scenarios included the E-2D successfully acting as the air wing “tanker king” while the MQ-25 refueled the F/A-18, in addition to supervising the MQ-25 during an intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance mission. The E-2D was able to conduct MUM-T operations with the MQ-25 using only existing operational flight program software.
The team also demonstrated how anticipated carrier air wing concepts – such as the F/A-18 and E-2D changing the tanker’s orbit station, flight path or aerial refueling store payload – were made routine and repeatable with the unmanned MQ-25. This required minimal changes to the F/A-18 cockpit display, helping to reduce pilot workload while supervising unmanned operations and providing consistency with how pilots operate and train today.
Another more advanced MUM-T mission simulation showed how an open behavioral software framework can be used to aggregate traditional unmanned system commands into an overall autonomous mission behavior.
MUM-T is a key future capability outlined in the Navy’s Unmanned Campaign Plan. The framework is the Navy’s strategy for integrating unmanned systems to provide lethal, survivable and scalable effects in support of carrier strike group operations.
Future Boeing MUM-T demonstrations will involve additional mission areas, interface enhancements, autonomous behaviors and resilient, protected networks.
The MQ-25 Stingray is UAS (Unmanned Aerial System) designed and manufactured by the American company Boeing to provide refueling capability, thereby extending the combat range of deployed Boeing F/A-18 Super Hornet, Boeing EA-18G Growler, and Lockheed Martin F-35C fighters used on an aircraft carrier. The MQ-25 brings the right combination of refueling, autonomy, and seamless carrier deck integration to meet the U.S. Navy’s goals.
