Following what was announced by the Commander of U.S. Naval Air Forces, Vice Admiral Daniel Cheever, the new Boeing MQ-25A Stingray refueling drone will conduct its first test flight from an aircraft carrier during the year 2026. This news was revealed by the senior officer during the WEST 2025 conference, jointly organized by the U.S. Naval Institute and AFCEA.
In 2018, Boeing’s proposal was selected for the production of the first four prototypes of the MQ-25A Stingray unmanned aerial vehicle, focused on aerial refueling missions operating from the deck of U.S. aircraft carriers. To the 2018 contract, valued at USD 805 million, another was added for USD 84.7 million for the construction of three additional UAVs. This set the stage for a future fleet of up to 76 units in service.
Throughout 2021, the MQ-25A Stingray achieved various milestones, from operating on the flight deck of the aircraft carrier USS George H.W. Bush to conducting refueling maneuvers with various U.S. Navy aircraft, as demonstrated in tests involving F-35 fighters and E-2D Hawkeye early warning aircraft. However, throughout 2022, updates on the project were scarce, leading to delays in the Navy’s plans to conduct the first operational deployments from USS Theodore Roosevelt (CVN-71) in 2025. By April 2023, this delay was fully confirmed, pushing its Initial Operational Capability and subsequent entry into service to 2026.
Now, several years later, the U.S. Navy once again has a clearer horizon for the project. With the MQ-25A drone expected to enable aircraft operations at a range of 500 nautical miles from the carrier while carrying up to 15,000 liters of fuel, Rear Admiral Keith Hash, commander of the Naval Air Warfare Center Weapons Division, stated during the WEST conference: “The MQ-25 is absolutely the Navy’s effort to demonstrate that an unmanned platform can be brought onto an aircraft carrier.”
The head of naval aviation also emphasized that the primary focus remains the MQ-25A drone’s refueling mission, though he acknowledged the platform’s potential for additional roles. Additionally, this new challenge will determine how the MQ-25A operates within the carrier air wing, what systems it will incorporate in the future, and what new roles it may assume over time, Hash explained.
Finally, naval aviation officials and experts pointed out that the integration of the MQ-25A will pave the way for incorporating other types of aircraft on aircraft carriers, including combat aircraft that could complement manned fighters with additional weapons-carrying capabilities, representing the future of cooperation between manned and unmanned aircraft.
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