The US Navy has logged another milestone on its path to fielding its first aircraft carrier-based uncrewed aerial vehicle.
In conjunction with airframer Boeing, the service completed a simulated landing of the developmental Boeing MQ-25 Stingray autonomous refueller jet aboard an aircraft carrier using an automated recovery system.
Known as the Joint Precision Approach Landing System (JPALS), the technology was originally developed by Raytheon and first deployed with the US Marine Corps to facilitate the automated landing of Lockheed Martin F-35B fighters aboard US naval ships.
The service’s short take-off and vertical landing F-35Bs operate from the navy’s larger Nimitz- and Ford-class super carriers, as well as the smaller class of light carriers known as amphibious assault ships.
While a Boeing-owned MQ-25 test article has conducted deck trials aboard the USS George HW Bush and completed aerial refuelling of multiple naval aircraft types, the developmental tanker has not yet conducted flight operations from one of the massive flat-top vessels.
In a major step toward that eventual goal, Boeing says it worked with the navy to complete what the company calls a “groundbreaking” test of the JPALS with an MQ-25 in a simulated environment.
Video posted by Boeing to networking website LinkedIn on 1 November shows a rendering of the simulation, in which a fleet grey MQ-25 approaches astern of a Nimitz-class aircraft carrier with landing gear and arresting tail hook lowered.
The pilotless jet glides in for a nose-up touchdown near where the carrier’s number-three arrestor wire would be – typically the target for US naval aviators.
Raytheon’s sister company Collins Aerospace says the JPALS uses differential GPS navigation and an anti-jam encrypted datalink to guide aircraft on to the carrier flight deck. A land-based version of the system is installed on US Air Force F-35As, while an expeditionary JPALS array developed by Collins can be set up at small or temporary bases to guide in F-35Bs during all-weather conditions.
“The system enhances operations in harsh environments, giving aircraft precision landing capability in challenging terrain conditions,” Collins says.
JPALS technology deployed operationally aboard amphibious assault ships in 2016, supporting F-35B landings. The system was later adapted for the carrier-specialised F-35C, which launches and lands using the same catapult assisted take-off and arresting wire recovery system the MQ-25 will utilise.
All USN aircraft carriers and amphibious assault ships are currently equipped with JPALS, as is the UK Royal Navy’s HMS Queen Elizabeth and the Italian navy’s ITS Cavour. Both services operate the F-35B.
Japan became the third foreign military sale customer for JPALS in 2023, with the system deployed aboard the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force’s new JS Izumo light carrier this year. That vessel is Japan’s second “multi-functional destroyer” equipped for F-35B operations and recently carried out flight trials with the USMC off the coast of California.
The MQ-25 marks the first aircraft outside the F-35 family that will work with JPALS. The USN plans to acquire 76 of the uncrewed Stingray jets, according to fiscal year 2025 budget documents, with at least 67 of those being operational aircraft to support carrier air wings.
Boeing delivered the first MQ-25 example – a static test article – to the navy in February. The company currently has flight-capable Stingrays in production within its F-15EX assembly site near St Louis Missouri, with a new dedicated MQ-25 production facility nearly complete.
The recent MQ-25 simulations with JPALS will help prepare test aircraft for an eventual physical landing aboard a carrier.
Preparations for that event are already underway. In August, the navy installed the first MD-5E unmanned aircraft control station aboard one its aircraft carriers – the USS George HW Bush.
“These systems will initially support the MQ-25, but also future unmanned systems such as collaborative combat aircraft,” Captain Daniel Fucito, USN programme manager for unmanned carrier aviation systems, said at the time.
The navy has already established its first Unmanned Carrier-Launched Multi-Role Squadron at NAS Patuxent River, Maryland to oversee the training of ship-based MQ-25 operators.
Although those crew are being called “air vehicle pilots”, they will not control the Stingray in flight. Instead, the single-engined jet uses advanced flight control algorithms and planning software to execute missions and return to the carrier autonomously.
The MQ-25 represents the first uncrewed aircraft planned for operational service on USN aircraft carriers, with the jets meant to provide aerial refuelling support to the navy’s carrier-based fighter squadrons.
That role is currently filled by the Boeing F/A-18E/F Super Hornet as so-called “buddy tankers”, which requires diverting one of the strike fighters from availability for combat sorties.
Boeing is also testing software that would allow the MQ-25 to be controlled by F/A-18E/F Super Hornet pilots while airborne.
Under the latest schedule, the navy plans to reach initial operational capability with the MQ-25 fleet in the second half of 2026 – with 13 aircraft delivered.
See video of the simulated MQ-25 carrier landing using the Joint Precision Approach Landing System:
