The new seal for the Navy's next aircraft carrier contains a hint about big changes coming to naval aviation

US Navy/Mass Comm Specialist 3rd Class Adam Ferrero

The carrier John F. Kennedy as its dry dock area is flooded, in Newport News, Virginia, October 29, 2019.

• The US Navy's latest aircraft carrier, the John F. Kennedy, will be christened in December and should be commissioned next year.
• The service recently published the carrier's official seal that commemorates its namesake and hints at what the future of naval aviation will look like.
• Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.

This month, the US Navy unveiled the official seal for the future aircraft carrier John F. Kennedy, which was officially launched on October 29 - three months ahead of schedule.

The Kennedy will be christened in Newport News, Virginia, on December 7, and even though it likely won't be commissioned into service until 2020, the carrier's seal reveals what naval aviation will look like aboard the Kennedy in the decades to come.

The seal, which is meant to honor Kennedy, his Navy service, and his vision for space exploration, depicts several of the aircraft that will operate on the carrier.

In front of the superstructure is what appears to be an E-2 Hawkeye early-warning aircraft, its wings folded back. Next to it, on the carrier's bow, are F/A-18 Super Hornet jets, while an F-35C Lightning II stealth fighter and an H-60 helicopter variant are on the other side of the deck.

US Navy graphic

The crest for the Ford-class aircraft carrier USS John F. Kennedy.

Between the F-35C and the helicopter is a new addition to the carrier air wing: an MQ-25 Stingray unmanned aerial vehicle, its wings folded above it.

In an email, Cmdr. Jennifer Cragg, public affairs officer for Naval Air Force Atlantic, confirmed that the MQ-25 was pictured on the seal, which "displays future naval aviation capabilities that the aircraft carrier will likely support throughout its estimated 50 year service life."

The MQ-25's inclusion means the Navy "firmly expects UAVs will play a key role in directly supporting the primary combat function of the carrier, which will still be conducted by Super Hornets, Growlers, and the F-35," said Timothy Choi, a Ph.D. student at the University of Calgary's Center for Military and Strategic Studies.

"Contrast the MQ-25's presence with the absence of other carrier aircraft, such as the C-2 or its replacement, the CMV-22, that don't play a combat role," added Choi, who first spotted the MQ-25 on the seal when it was released.

A heavyweight champion

Eric Shindelbower/Boeing

Boeing's MQ-25 unmanned aerial refueling tanker, being tested at Boeing's facility in St. Louis, Missouri.

The Navy awarded Boeing an $805 million contract for the Stingray in August 2018, and one of four development models made the drone's first flight in September. The first of four development models is expected to be delivered in fiscal year 2021, followed by planned initial operational capability for the aircraft in 2024.

In all, the Navy expects to get 72 MQ-25s and for a total cost of about $13 billion, according to James Geurts, Navy assistant secretary for research, development, and acquisition, who called it "a hallmark acquisition program."

The MQ-25 is a refueling drone, meant to ease the workload of the Navy's F/A-18 Super Hornets, which currently conduct both combat missions as well as refueling operations, using detachable tanks.

The drone would also allow carrier aircraft to fly longer and farther, conducting more missions and putting more space between the carrier and the growing variety of weapons that threaten it.

A dedicated carrier-based aerial refueling tanker could allow carrier aircraft "to reach [combat air patrol] stations 1,000 [nautical miles] from the carrier and conduct long-range attacks to respond promptly to aggression while keeping the carrier far enough away from threat areas to reduce the density of air and missile threats" to a level the carrier strike group's defense could handle, according to a 2018 report on the carrier air wing by the Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments.

Boeing

Boeing and the US Navy's MQ-25 unmanned aerial refueler during its first test flight, September 19, 2019.

The Stingray "gives us additional reach, just like that of heavyweight champion Muhammad Ali," Adm. James Foggo, head of US Naval Forces Europe-Africa, said on a recent edition of his On the Horizon podcast.

The Navy may eventually ask for more than range, however.

The CSBA report also recommended redesignating the MQ-25 as a "multi-mission UAV," modifying later versions to conduct attack, electronic warfare, or intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance missions where appropriate.

Those modified MQ-25s "would be able to complement [unmanned combat aerial vehicles] when the risk is acceptable, providing the future [carrier air wing] a potentially less expensive option for surveillance, EW, or attack missions in less stressing environments," the report said.

But the Stingray is still a long way from joining the fleet, and what it can do when it gets there, if it gets there, remains to be seen.

"The positioning of the MQ-25 into the background and off to the side might also be interpreted as a certain hesitancy" by the Navy, Choi said. "In the event UAVs turn out not to be as successful as expected, it can be easily ignored and the seal is not burdened with a white elephant sitting front and center on the deck."