US Navy looks at manned-unmanned teaming role for E-2D Advanced

“There is going to be a control centre on the carrier for our unmanned air vehicles,” said Vice Admiral James Kilby, deputy chief of naval operations for warfighting requirements and capabilities, in testimony before the US House Armed Services Committee on 18 March. “But, ultimately, in the future, let’s say there’s a fueling area for a strike [aircraft] or some other mission area, it’d be great if a manned pilot saw weather and we could divert and move that [UAV] and not have to go to the carrier to do that control.”

The unmanned MQ-25A tanker is intended to extend the reach of the Lockheed Martin F-35C, which has an unrefuelled range of about 1,200nm (2,200km) – not long enough to keep US aircraft carriers outside of the striking distance of China’s land-based ballistic and cruise missiles.

The USN plans to examine using the MQ-25A also for intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance, electronic attack and strike missions after it figures out how to handle the UAV’s operations from a carrier deck, said Kilby.

The MQ-25A might be able to jam radar or provide another form of electronic attack in coordination with a manned aircraft, while within an adversary’s anti-access and area denial zone, a contested airspace where aircraft are within range of missile and electronic attack, he says.

“Perhaps I can provide some surveillance [using the MQ-25A] and I can save deck space where I don’t have to have five E-2Ds on the carrier,” says Kilby. The twin-turboprop E-2D is the largest aircraft aboard USN aircraft carriers, so the removal of one or more examples could free up substantial space for other aircraft.

The E-2D carries a AN/APY-9, a disc-shaped rotating radar dome, on its back that is used for early detection and tracking of aircraft and cruise missiles. It also has friend or foe identification capabilities, electronic support measures and sensors for target identification. The USN calls the five-crew aircraft a “digital quarterback” because of its role as a command-and-control station, as well as its ability to collect and pass information.