US Navy Awards Boeing $562 Million Contract for MQ-25A Stingray Aircraft
The US Navy has awarded Boeing a $562 million contract to produce three MQ-25A Stingray unmanned aerial refueling aircraft. The contract is for the first low-rate initial production batch of the aircraft, which will be used to extend the service life of F/A-18 Super Hornet fighters.
The MQ-25 program has experienced several delays, with the Navy estimating that flight testing will continue through the end of 2023. The project was initially conceived as a stealth unmanned aircraft for intelligence, surveillance, and strike missions called UCLASS, but it was reoriented in 2016 toward a carrier-based unmanned aerial vehicle.
The first deliveries of aircraft from the first batch are scheduled for 2029, with a total of 67 operational aircraft and nine test vehicles planned for the program. The MQ-25A is set to become the US Department of Defense's first unmanned aerial refueling aircraft and the US Navy's first operational carrier-based unmanned aircraft.