Nichols Martin
A General Atomics business unit has tested the use of integrated fuel tanks for a refueling unmanned aircraft system being developed for the U.S. Navy.
General Atomics Aeronautical Systems Inc said Thursday it integrated the fuel tanks into the MQ-25‘s full-scale wing skin and a large-scale wing box unit that underwent tests at a facility in Adelanto, Calif.
The company confirmed the wing and tail components’ production readiness in April after a series of non-destructive and destructive inspections.
“The integral fuel tank wing box test article will reduce technical and schedule risk for the program,†said David Alexander, president for aircraft systems at GA-ASI.
The wing skin’s demonstration verified the MQ-25’s fundamental concepts, as well as the use of an outer mold line tooling approach to produce the aircraft’s components at a faster rate.
GA-ASI announced its participation in the MQ-25 program in February.
