The U.S. Navy has completed installing a new control room for the MQ-25 Stingray onboard the USS George H.W. Bush aircraft carrier.
Called the Unmanned Air Warfare Center, the ground control station—a.k.a. GCS—features software and hardware systems and will be used to control the MQ-25 during refueling operations for strike fighters, the Naval Air Systems Command said a in press release.
Air vehicle pilots will use the UAWC to control the Stingray’s airborne operations moving forward.
According to Unmanned Carrier Aviation Program Manager Capt. Daniel Fucito, the GCS will support the MQ-25 and upcoming unmanned systems, including the collaborative combat aircraft that the U.S. Air Force is developing.
The Boeing-made control system includes capabilities from Lockheed Martin’s Skunk Works, specifically the MDCX Multi Domain Combat System that powers the command and control functions of the GCS, Lockheed Martin said in a LinkedIn post.
USS George H.W. Bush will take part in the UAWC’s sea testing in early 2025, which will be the first time that AVPs will operate the control room from an aircraft carrier, said Joe Nedeau, head of PMA-268 Unmanned Carrier Aviation Mission Control System.
“They will use the actual GCS hardware and software aboard CVN 77 to communicate with a simulated air vehicle in the lab in Pax River,” he noted.
Boeing designed the MQ-25 to refuel combat planes and conduct specific intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance missions.