Sea Power - April 2016

The futuristic unmanned aircraft formerly known as the Unmanned Carrier Launched Aviation and Strike System (UCLASS) has gone through a bit of an identity crisis lately.

Now it seems as if no one is quite sure what to call the unmanned fixed-wing aircraft that is envisioned to be the first such aircraft to fly off an aircraft carrier. Some still call it UCLASS. Some call it the Carrier-Based Aerial Refueling System (CBARS). Some call it the RAQ- 25. But Capt. Thurraya Kent, spokeswoman for the assistant secretary of the Navy for Research, Development and Acquisition, said the Navy is officially calling it the MQ-XX Stingray.

Why the name changes? It is because the fundamental mission behind the aircraft has changed.

UCLASS was envisioned as a big part of the future of fighter aircraft operating from carrier decks, alongside F-35s and F/A-18s, launching strikes and conducting surveillance without a man in the cockpit.

But Congress expressed concern about this plan due
to the fact that it seemed the UCLASS would be a jack-
of-all-trades instead of a platform that would have a
focused job. Eventually, the Navy agreed, and has
focused on a main mission for the MQ-XX Stingray: aer-
ial refueling, with intelligence, sur-
veillance and reconnaissance (ISR)
and limited strike capabilities.

“The MQ-XX Stingray is the next step in the Navy’s evolutionary integration of unmanned air systems into the carrier strike group’s operational environment,” Kent said. “As part of our incremental approach, MQ-XX will allow the Navy to deliver carrier-based unmanned capability to the fleet faster. When fielded, MQ-XX will deliver a high-endurance organic aerial refueling and ISR capability.”

With unmanned aerial refueling, the Navy hopes to be able to extend the “ performance, efficiency and safety” of manned aircraft and give them longer range and greater endurance to allow them to do missions they otherwise would not be able to do.

“MQ-XX will help to preserve the power projection
dominance of the nation’s carrier fleet,” Kent added.
The Navy already has done a lot of the hard work to
develop the concept of an unmanned aircraft operating
aboard a carrier with the X-47B demonstrator program,
which has concluded. And since there has been no
request for proposals (RFPs) yet, it is not too late to
make fundamental changes in the program.

“MQ-XX Stingray will leverage existing Navy programs of record and considerable industry investment to reduce total program cost, increase system design maturity and ensure interoperability with existing DoN/DoD [Department of the Navy/Department of Defense] systems,” Kent said. “For example, the X-47B Unmanned Combat Air System demonstration effort reduced risk for critical technologies requiring maturation and X-47B test data, and lessons learned will inform the MQ-XX concept of operations and technical designs.”

Goodbye UCLASS,
Hello Stingray

After years of wrangling over the UCLASS mission, the Navy forges ahead with a new purpose and new name By DANIEL P. TAYLOR, Special Correspondent

Preserving Power Projection

The Navy now is officially calling the Unmanned Carrier Launched Aviation and Strike System (UCLASS) the MQ-XX Stingray.

; The UCLASS was envisioned as an unmanned platform operating from carrier decks alongside F-35s and F/A-18s, launching strikes and conducting surveillance.