Lockheed Martin could offer unmanned U-2 for MDA laser weapon demo

The U.S. Missile Defense Agency plans to send an unmanned aircraft into the stratosphere sometime in 2020-2021 and attempt to shot down a ballistic missile in its boost-phase using an electrical laser. Lockheed Martin says a unmanned version of the U-2 might be a suitable platform for that.

US Air Force U-2 (2139646280)
By U.S. Air Force photo by Master Sgt. Rose Reynolds [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons
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Contractors will have to determine sweet spot between ISR and tanking for MQ-25A

Vice Adm. Mike Shoemaker, commander, Naval Air Forces, was recently at the Center for Strategic and International Studies and he said defense contractors competing in the MQ-25A program will have to find the sweet spot between supporting mission tanking and intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR) missions.

US Navy's X-47B, AV-2, Bureau # 168064, of Air Test and Evaluation Squadron Two Three (VX-23), conduct Air-to-Air Refueling (AAR) over the Chesapeake Bay on 16 April 2015.  VX-23 is part of the Naval Test Wing Atlantic in Naval Air Station Patuxent River,
Photo: U.S. Navy
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