FRIDAY FOTO (January 7, 2022)

The Stingray

(U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 3rd Class Brandon Roberson) Click on the photo to enlarge the image.

Like some gigantic insect, about to unfold its wings, a Boeing MQ-25 unmanned aircraft is given operating directions on the flight deck of the aircraft carrier USS George H.W. Bush on December 13, 2021. The MQ-25, also known as the Stingray, will be the world’s first operational, carrier-based unmanned aircraft. (Whew! That’s a mouthful.) The Navy says it’s integral to the future carrier air wing (CVW), providing an aerial refueling capability that extends the range, operational capability and lethality of the carrier strike group (CSG).

GHW Bush is the 10th and last of the Nimitz-class aircraft carriers, named for World War II naval aviator and 41st President of the United States, George Herbert Walker Bush.

Click here to see a brief video of the MQ-25 with its wings spread as it takes off from MidAmerica Airport in Mascoutah, Illinois to conduct an aerial refueling test with a manned F-35 Lightning II fighter on September 13, 2021.