The U.S. Navy awarded Boeing a $562 million fixed-price incentive contract for Lot 1 Low-Rate Initial Production (LRIP) of the MQ-25A Stingray carrier-based unmanned aerial refueler, the service and company announced. The contract funds three Lot 1 aircraft and includes advanced procurement funding for long-lead components to support an additional three aircraft under Lot 2. Initial deliveries are slated to begin in 2029.
The production award follows the MQ-25A’s first flight from MidAmerica St. Louis Airport in Mascoutah, Illinois. During the roughly two-hour flight, the aircraft demonstrated autonomous taxi, takeoff, flight, and landing, while validating basic flight controls, engine performance, and handling characteristics under ground control station commands. That flight paved the way for Milestone C approval, formally transitioning the program out of the Engineering and Manufacturing Development phase and into production.
The MQ-25A features a wing-body-tail airframe spanning 51 feet in length with a 75-foot wingspan that folds down to 31.3 feet for carrier deck handling. It is powered by a single Rolls-Royce AE 3007N turbofan engine generating over 10,000 pounds of thrust. The Navy’s core requirement specifies that the Stingray can deliver between 14,000 and 16,000 pounds of fuel to tactical jets at a range of 500 nautical miles (approximately 926 kilometers) from the carrier.
With the production line active and initial builds underway at Boeing facilities, the Navy-Boeing team is focused on mitigating technical risks, preparing operator training programs, and executing subsequent full-rate production decisions.
Sources: DVIDS News · Defence Blog