The Navy’s MQ-25A Stingray first carrier-based unmanned tanker takes its first flight on April 25, 2026 at Boeing’s facility at MidAmerica Airport in Mascoutah, Ill. The MQ-25 is the Navy’s first operational carrier-based unmanned aircraft. (Photo: Boeing)
The Navy on May 19 announced the Boeing MQ-25A Stingray carrier-based unmanned tanker aircraft officially received its Milestone C approval, setting it up for Low-Rate Initial Production (LRIP) later this year.
The service said the next step for the program is a planned summer LRIP Lot 1 contract for three aircraft and priced options for Lot 2 for three more aircraft and Lot 3 for another five aircraft. The Navy also plans to perform a non-flying risk reduction event with the first MQ-25A aboard the USS Ronald Reagan (CVN-76) aircraft carrier in FY 2027.
The Navy plans to procure 76 MQ-25As as the new refueling jet for Carrier Air Wings, freeing up F/A-18E/F Super Hornet aircraft currently relegated to tanking roles to be used for combat and training missions.
“Unmanned refueling extends our reach against any adversary. Moving the MQ-25A Stingray to Milestone C and into production is arming our warfighters with a capability that increases the lethality of our Carrier Strike Groups,” Acting Secretary of the Navy Hung Cao, said in a statement.
The approval comes weeks after the Navy disclosed the first MQ-25A conducted its first flight test in April.
In December, Rear Admiral Tony Rossi, then-head of the Program Executive Office for Unmanned Aviation and Strike Weapons, said Navy leadership had signed the Milestone C test and evaluation plan and that LRIP was scheduled for this year.
“The aircraft is ready, production is ready, and the program is ready to move this groundbreaking capability forward, paving the way for unmanned carrier aviation and enhancing fleet capability, capacity and lethality,” Capt. Daniel Fucito, Unmanned Carrier Aviation program manager (PMA-268), added.
PMA-268 manages both the Stingray aircraft program itself and unmanned Carrier Aviation Mission Control System. Under the Navy’s new acquisition and Portfolio Acquisition Executive (PAE) reorganization structure PMA-268 falls under Carrier Strike Deputy Portfolio Acquisition Executive (DPAE), within the Portfolio Acquisition Executive for Aviation.
Troy Rutherford, vice president of Boeing for the MQ-25 program, acknowledged this milestone in a statement and said the company will “remain focused on getting this game-changing unmanned aircraft into the hands of the fleet and integrated into the carrier air wing.”
The Navy originally awarded Boeing the initial $805 million engineering and manufacturing development (EMD) contract in 2018 to design, develop, build, test and verify the first four Stingrays.
MQ-25 production is focused at Boeing’s new production facility near the MidAmerica St. Louis airport in Illinois.
The Navy FY ‘27 budget request says the service plans to buy three MQ-25s in LRIP Lot 1 with $487 million, combining funds from regular defense appropriations and the 2025 reconciliation bill. Budget documents note the aircraft flyaway cost is over $166 million each.
The Navy plans to buy five MQ-25s in FY ‘28, and seven each in FY 2029-2031.
Budget documents also say the Navy plans for the first MQ-25 deployment to consist of three EMD aircraft.
A version of this story originally appeared in sister publication Defense Daily.
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