MQ-25 Stingray: Navy Flies Drone Tanker From a Carrier at Sea
A Navy carrier in the Pacific controlled an MQ-25A Stingray drone tanker 2,100 miles away. Production, cost and schedule questions explained.
For the first time, a U.S. aircraft carrier at sea has taken control of the Navy’s MQ-25A Stingray drone tanker. During a preliminary sea trial, the crew of USS Ronald Reagan (CVN 76) connected to an MQ-25A test aircraft parked at Boeing’s facility in Mascoutah, Illinois, more than 2,100 miles away, while the ship was underway in the Pacific Ocean, the Navy said on 19 October.
The link ran beyond line of sight through a proliferated low Earth orbit satellite network, according to the Navy. The service called it “a historic U.S. naval aviation event.” The test comes weeks after the Navy signed the first production contract for the aircraft, and as official reviewers continue to flag cost and schedule risks in the program.
What happened aboard Ronald Reagan
The carrier’s Unmanned Air Warfare Center used its MD-5C ground control station to make the connection. The Navy says the MD-5C combines its own command, control and communications network with Lockheed Martin’s MDCX hardware and software and other government equipment, and that the same system is meant to control future unmanned carrier aircraft as well.
The Navy described the event as one of a series of build-up exercises to validate procedures, networks and interfaces, following pier-side and at-sea tests by the MQ-25 integrated test team of Navy, Boeing and Lockheed Martin personnel. The release does not say whether the aircraft flew during the connection; it says only that the ship “connected to, and controlled” it. “This first-ever underway connection between a carrier-based UAWC and an MQ-25A aircraft proves that the Carrier Air Wing of tomorrow is a reality today,” said Capt. Daniel Fucito, the Navy’s unmanned carrier aviation program manager.
From first flight to first production
The test aircraft has been flying only since this spring. The first developmental MQ-25A took off from Mascoutah on 25 April and flew for about two hours, according to Naval Air Systems Command, with pilots on the ground validating basic flight controls, engine performance and handling. NAVAIR said the aircraft would later ferry to Naval Air Station Patuxent River, Maryland, for further testing.
In May the program received Milestone C approval to enter production, and on 14 September the Navy awarded Boeing $562 million for three low-rate initial production aircraft, plus long-lead parts for three more in Lot 2. The Navy expects the first Lot 1 deliveries in 2029. On 16 October the Department of War announced a second award: a sole-source Boeing contract with a ceiling of $80 million for system improvements, integration, production readiness and sustainment, with work in St. Louis through October 2031. No money was obligated at award; funds will be added order by order.
Cost, delays and open questions
The Congressional Research Service’s August 2026 overview traces the program’s slow path. The Navy and DARPA began work on a carrier-based combat drone in 1999, and the Navy shifted the effort to refueling in 2016 before choosing Boeing in 2018. A 2024 rebaseline moved the first flight of the developmental aircraft from 2021 to 2025, and it finally flew in April 2026. Pentagon cost reporting cited by CRS now projects initial operational capability in 2029, four years after the original plan, blaming technical risk, production schedule changes and a labor strike.
On cost, CRS reports that the Pentagon’s 2026 acquisition report put the program at $19.4 billion including military construction, or $255.8 million per aircraft. The Government Accountability Office’s lower estimate, which excludes construction, is $16.6 billion and $218 million per aircraft. GAO warned that starting production before testing a production-representative aircraft could bring “cost increases and further delays,” and that the Navy had lacked “data showing the actual costs of building the aircraft.” For fiscal 2027 the Navy has requested $1.75 billion for three more aircraft and continued development.
| Item | MQ-25A Stingray detail |
|---|---|
| Role | Carrier-based unmanned aerial refueling, with a secondary surveillance role |
| Fuel objective | At least 14,000 lb delivered at 500 nautical miles (CRS) |
| Engine | Rolls-Royce AE 3007N turbofan, built in Indianapolis |
| Refueling gear | Cobham aerial refueling store, as used by F/A-18E/F tankers (reported) |
| Control system | MD-5 Unmanned Carrier Aviation Mission Control System; MD-5C on ships |
| Program of record | 76 aircraft: 67 operational, nine test and development |
| Production | Boeing, Mascoutah, Illinois ($200M factory opened 2024) |
| Projected IOC | 2029, per the Pentagon’s 2026 acquisition report |
Specifications from CRS IF12972 and the U.S. Navy.
Why it matters
Peter’s World analysis, based on the sources cited in this article.
Today the Navy uses some of its F/A-18E/F Super Hornets as tankers, which takes strike fighters off combat missions and adds wear to the airframes. A dedicated drone tanker would return those jets to strike duty and push the air wing’s reach farther from the carrier, which could matter if long-range anti-ship missiles force carriers to operate farther from their targets. That reach is also central to the Navy’s plans for its next fighter, the F/A-XX, and to how its 11 aircraft carriers would fight in the 2030s.
In our view, the at-sea control test is significant less for the tanker itself than for the control system. If a ship-based station can reliably command drones by satellite, the same setup could support the wider family of unmanned aircraft the Navy calls the “air wing of the future,” much like the Air Force’s Collaborative Combat Aircraft. The test did not show the harder tasks: launching from a catapult, landing on a moving deck and refueling fighters at sea with a production aircraft.
What to watch: the ferry flight to Patuxent River and carrier-deck trials; whether Congress funds the fiscal 2027 request of three aircraft; the Lot 2 award Boeing expects in 2027; and whether the 2029 deliveries and initial capability date hold.
Sources
- U.S. Navy, Unmanned Aerial Refueler Remotely Controlled By At-Sea Aircraft Carrier Control Station, 19 October 2026.
- U.S. Navy, First Production Contract Awarded for MQ-25A Stingray, 14 September 2026.
- U.S. Department of War, Contracts for Oct. 16, 2026.
- Congressional Research Service, MQ-25 Stingray: Background and Issues for Congress (IF12972, PDF), updated 12 August 2026.
- Naval Air Systems Command, MQ-25A Stingray achieves successful first flight, 27 April 2026.
