MQ-25 contract to Boeing

The US Navy has selected Boeing to build the MQ-25A Stingray carrier-based unmanned mid-air refueling tanker. The contract calls for four air vehicle prototypes and eventually the navy plans to buy upto 72 Stingrays to relieve the refueling burden on the F/A-18F fleet. Boeing’s wing-body-tail UAV configuration was pitched against proposals from General Atomics Aeronautical Systems (GA-ASI) and Lockheed Martin, with Boeing as the only company to build a prototype.

The USN plans for delivery of the first MQ-25A developmental aircraft in 2020, followed by its maiden flight in 2021 and declaration of combat readiness in 2024. The Nimitz- class aircraft carrier George Washington (CVN 73) will be modified to accommodate the MQ25 during its four-year refueling and complex overhaul (RCOH) maintenance period at Newport News, Virginia.