Boeing will build Navy’s latest unmanned aircraft
Chicago-based aerospace giant Boeing Co. will invest $200 million to begin manufacturing the U.S. Navy’s latest unmanned aircraft at Midamerica St. Louis Airport in a project that could add more than 150 jobs on the company’s southwest Illinois campus.
Boeing plans to build the MQ-25 Stingray, the Navy’s first carrier-based unmanned aircraft in a state-of-the-art plant of about 300,000 square feet.
Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker said in a prepared statement that $57 million in state money is set aside for Midamerica St. Louis Airport improvements, nearly half of which will bolster the Boeing project.
Construction on the Midamerica facility is scheduled to start this year and be completed in early 2024.