Liebherr joins US unmanned tanker effort
German company to provide tailhook actuator for Boeing MQ-25A Stingray UAV.
Boeing has selected Liebherr-Aerospace Lindenberg to supply the tailhook actuator for the MQ-25A Stingray air-to-air refuelling UAV.
The German company will also support additional qualification tests. ‘Liebherr has developed unique high-performance and high-reliability technologies that particularly fit the severe environment that the MQ-25A tailhook actuator will be operating in,’ it noted on 9 February.
The actuator will retract and extend the tailhook, which will enable the MQ-25A (the first operational carrier-based UAV for the USN) to decelerate rapidly for landings on flight decks.
Boeing could deliver more than 70 Stingrays to the USN for around $13 billion. Seven MQ-25As have been ordered to date and IOC is expected in 2024, according to Shephard Defence Insight.
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