It is one of the most complicated maneuvers that any machine can perform: one aircraft transferring fuel to another while flying thousands of feet in the air. Now imagine doing that and then landing back on an aircraft carrier in the middle of the sea. Then do all the above without a pilot on board.
That’s exactly what the MQ-25A Stingray™ does. And the engineers who designed it built safety into every phase, to ensure the autonomous aircraft will react as well as — and sometimes better than — a conventional piloted refueler.
The Boeing teammates making it happen say the aircraft’s autonomy software — commonly referred to as ‘the brains’ inside the Stingray — is the foundation of the aircraft’s success. Boeing teammates designed, built and tested the software through years of exhaustive verifications to prove, before the Stingray ever left the ground, that it would fly safely.