WASHINGTON – Boeing recently offered a first glimpse of its newest militaryaircraft, a large, stingray-shaped drone it hopes will win an intense Navycompetition to build an uncrewed aircraft capable of landing on an aircraftcarrier.
Drones have been a vital part of the Pentagon’s arsenal for years, but thecompetition for a Navy carrier-based version that can refuel jet fightersin the midair would mark a significant advancement in the technology – andbecome another sign how the military is increasingly integrating robotsinto the way it fights.
In addition to Boeing, two of the Pentagon’s top suppliers, General Atomicsand Lockheed Martin, are also vying for a contract to build as many as 76of the vehicles that would become operational in the mid 2020s. Bids aredue Jan. 3, setting the stage for a high-stakes competition in 2018. Thoughthe Navy has not yet released the value of the contract, an earlierincarnation of the effort – in which the drones would both serve asrefueling aircraft and have attack capabilities – would have been worth $3billion through 2022. As conceived now, the aircraft would not beconfigured to strike targets.
In recent years, the Pentagon has shown that drones are not just capable offlying from airstrips around the world, but from sea as well. In 2013,Northrop Grumman’s X-47B became the first drone to take off and land froman aircraft carrier, the USS George H.W. Bush in a flight that one top Navyofficial said marked “an inflection point in history on how we willintegrate manned and unmanned aircraft on carrier flight decks in thefuture.”
Then, a year later, the X-47B flew in concert with F/A-18 fighter jets. Ittook its next step in 2015 when it was refueled in midair by a tanker jet.
If successful, the MQ-25 would become a key component for the Navy. Withmore capable defense systems, potential adversaries, particularly China,are pushing the Navy’s aircraft carriers further and further away fromshorelines – and out of striking distance of fighter jets.
The ability to refuel those jets in midair with a drone would allow them tostrike deeper into enemy territory, even while the carriers stay safely offshore. Without that capability, defense analysts fear the U.S.’s long-heldair dominance could be diminished and its fleet of aircraft carriers,perhaps one of the most significant ways the Pentagon projects force fromwherever, whenever, could become obsolete.
“The Navy has a growing concern with threats to its aircrafts carriers,”said Loren Thompson, a defense consultant, who works with many of the largecontractors. “Carriers cost billions of dollars and have thousand ofpersonnel on board, so if it can attack targets without having to get tooclose, that’s a big warfighter advantage.”
In addition to refueling fighter jets, including the F/A-18 Super Hornetand the F-35C, the drones could also be used on surveillance missions,staying aloft for long stretches, Thompson said.
Though it developed the X-47B, Northrop Grumman suddenly dropped out of thecompetition in October, stunning many in the industry that had thought ithad a good chance to win. During a conference call with Wall Streetanalysts to discuss quarterly financial results, Wes Bush, Northrop’schairman and chief executive, said the program didn’t make financial sensefor the company, which is already developing a new stealth bomber for thePentagon.
“When we’re looking at one of these opportunities, let me be clear: Ourobjective is not just to win. Winning is great, it feels good on the day ofan announcement,” he said. “But if you can’t really execute on it anddeliver on it to your customer and your shareholders, then you’ve done thewrong thing.”
For Boeing and Lockheed, which teamed up on the bomber contract but lost,the Navy competition represents a significant opportunity to build a newmilitary airframe. That’s especially important for Boeing, which has sloweddown its F/A-18 production line, while Lockheed Martin is ramping upmanufacturing of its F-35 Joint Strike Fighter.
“Boeing has been delivering carrier aircraft to the Navy for almost 90years,” Don “BD” Gaddis, a retired admiral of Boeing’s Phantom Workstechnology organization, said in a statement. “Our expertise gives usconfidence in our approach.”
It faces tough competition, however. Lockheed Martin is the world’s largestdefense contractor, and General Atomics has a long history in developingremotely piloted aircraft, including the Predator and Gray Eagle.