The Navy is getting closer to relying on pilotless planes to keep its fighters flying

• The Navy is working on a variety of unmanned platforms to augment the fleet's operations.
• Recent developments with its unmanned aerial systems reflect the major role those system could play in the Navy's future fleet.

In December, the MQ-25 Stingray successfully made its first flight with an aerial refueling store, carrying a Cobham ARS under its left wing for about 2.5 hours.

The flight was intended to test the drone's aerodynamics with the same system used by the Navy's F/A-18s for aerial-refueling missions.

Capt. Chad Reed, the Navy's Unmanned Carrier Aviation program manager, said the test was "one big step closer in our evaluation of how the MQ-25 will fulfill its primary mission in the fleet - aerial refueling."

The MQ-25 milestone was followed in February by a test in which an unmanned resupply drone delivered spare parts to the aircraft carrier USS Gerald R. Ford.

The Navy has struggled with its unmanned platforms, but recent developments show it is getting serious about unmanned aerial systems and reflect the major role those system could have in the future fleet.

The first carrier-based drone

The Stingray is not the Navy's first drone. Smaller models like the ScanEagle, RQ-21 Blackjack, and MQ-8 Fire Scout have seen service on various Navy vessels, while versions of the MQ-4C Triton, which is similar to the Stingray in size, have been flown by the Navy from land for at least three years.

But none of those drones have operated on carriers. The Navy began searching for a carrier-based drone in 2006 with the Unmanned Carrier-Launched Airborne Surveillance and Strike program.

The program originally called for a drone with strike and reconnaissance capabilities, but the increased range of anti-ship defenses and an expected shortage of pilots in the future led the Navy to shift the program's focus to aerial refueling.

The idea was sound: An unmanned aerial-refueling system would free up pilots and other carrier aircraft for combat duties and extend the range of a carrier's air wing by almost 50%.

By 2013, Northrop Grumman's X-47B demonstrator had successfully taken off from and landed on USS George H.W. Bush. Despite being the frontrunner, Northrup Grumman withdrew the X-47B from consideration in 2017 due to concerns that it could not be repurposed in a cost-effective manner.

Of the three designs remaining, the Navy selected Boeing's on April 30, 2018. A year later, the Stingray made its first flight.

December's test was the first time the Stingray carried the aerial-refueling technology that is central to its mission. Future tests will involve extending and retracting the ARS hose, as well as flights with F/A-18s. Deck-handling tests aboard carriers are also being planned.

"What we're focusing on is launching, landings, moving it around on the deck, bringing it up, taking it down in the hangar bay - how do we position those assets and how can we support the air wing?" Adm. James Kilby, deputy chief of naval operations for war-fighting requirements and capabilities, said of the MQ-25 at a House Armed Services subcommittee hearing on Thursday.

The Stingray will be able to carry 15,000 pounds of fuel about 500 nautical miles. It will operate alongside and refuel EA-18G Growler electronic-warfare aircraft as well as F/A-18 and F-35C fighters.

The MQ-25 is expected to reach initial operating capability by 2024. While the Navy has ordered seven for testing, it intends to have as many as 72 in service. The Navy also plans to recruit 450 new warrant officers over the next six to 10 years to operate MQ-25s.

With the December tests, the MQ-25 has logged more than 30 hours of training flights.

Blue Water Unmanned Aircraft System

The Navy's plans for unmanned systems do not end at aerial refueling.

On February 21, a Blue Water Unmanned Aircraft System (UAS) delivered "light-weight logistical equipment" to the aircraft carrier USS Gerald R. Ford.

The drone, built by Texas-based aerospace company Skyways, is capable of traveling 500 miles and carrying 30-pound loads.

Despite the small cargo, Capt. John Bush, director of aircraft material and engineering for Naval Air Forces Atlantic, called the test "a first step in revolutionizing logistics support to maximize operational availability and lethality for these critical capital assets."

The Navy has said that up to 90% of the logistical issues that move ships into non-mission-capable or partially mission-capable status can be fixed with components weighing less than 50 pounds.

SH-60 Seahawk helicopters or V-22 Osprey tilt-rotor aircraft currently make such deliveries, but unmanned aircraft are seen as a cost-effective alternative.

The unmanned future

Of course, the Navy's drones are not just for logistics. Most serve an important role by carrying out intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance (ISR) missions, and some, like the MQ-8B, can actually be armed with missiles.

"There is some payload capacity in [the MQ-25] that we think has great promise for us, so I think initially we would transition to ISR" before moving to more complex electronic-attack or strike missions, Kilby said Thursday.

"We think we could get upward of 40% of the aircraft in an air wing that are unmanned and then transition beyond that," Kilby said.

Navy submarines are also working on using drones to aid targeting. Since subs avoid launching torpedoes at periscope depth to minimize the risk of being spotted, drones could ensure long-range torpedo attacks hit their mark.

The service reached initial operational capability with a sub-launched unmanned aerial system in September, Rear Adm. Dave Goggins, the Navy's program executive officer for submarines, said during a Naval Submarine League webinar in November, calling it "a pretty awesome capability to provide to the fleet."

Completely unmanned ships and underwater vehicles tasked with logistics, anti-submarine warfare, and mine-clearing missions are also in development. The Navy plans to have 143 unmanned vessels in service by 2045.

The Marine Corps' Force Design 2030 report also calls for a 50% increase in unmanned-aerial-vehicle squadrons. The Corps hopes to acquire "a family of systems" of different sizes and capabilities to meet its drone requirements.

With development underway on unmanned combat aircraft like the Kratos XQ-58 Valkyrie and the Boeing Airpower Teaming System, some argue the Navy's next carrier-based fighter should be unmanned as well.

The idea may not be so far-fetched; last summer, an artificial-intelligence program developed by Heron Systems defeated a US Air Force F-16 pilot in five simulated dogfights. Heron Systems claimed the program went through 4 billion simulations before the event, though former fighter pilots told Insider the program still wasn't comparable to a human pilot.

"These sustained investments will yield new capabilities extending well beyond the effectiveness of standalone platforms or human-centered systems," Thomas Harker, acting Secretary of the Navy, said in the service's recently released Unmanned Campaign Framework. "They will transform naval warfare by providing asymmetric advantages to each and every sailor and Marine."