Facts

• Company: Boeing
• Product type: Autonomous Drone
• Status: active
• Capability focus: Defense
• Website: https://www.boeing.com/defense/mq25

Profile sections

• Summary
• Overview
• Market context
• Audience
• Workflow
• Capability
• Deployment environment
• Positioning tags
• Specifications
• Timeline / Research
• Operations Claims / Customers and deployments
• Sources

Summary

MQ-25A Stingray is Boeing carrier-based unmanned aerial refuelling aircraft for the U. S. Navy. It is designed to extend carrier air wing range by taking over refuelling duties from manned fighters while operating as an autonomous naval aircraft.

Overview

MQ-25A Stingray is Boeing carrier-based unmanned aerial refuelling aircraft for the U. S. Navy. It is designed to extend carrier air wing range by taking over refuelling duties from manned fighters while operating as an autonomous naval aircraft.

Market context

MQ-25A Stingray is a carrier-based uncrewed tanker that gives Boeing a concrete robotics profile inside naval aviation rather than a generic aerospace-adjacent signal.

• Target environment: Carrier decks, naval aviation test environments and future carrier air wing operations.
• Workflow context: Mission-planned unmanned aerial refueling for crewed aircraft, including deck handling, launch/recovery integration and tanker mission execution.
• Customer context: U.S. Navy carrier aviation and defense acquisition teams evaluating unmanned support aircraft for extending fighter range.
• Deployment model: Program-of-record defense aircraft moving through Navy acquisition and low-rate initial production.
• Commercial maturity: Milestone C / LRIP transition with public Navy fact-file specifications and Boeing/NAVAIR test milestones.
• Adoption constraints: Carrier integration, airworthiness, reliability, deck operations, command-and-control assurance and defense acquisition timelines remain the practical adoption constraints.
• Market position: High-consequence defense robotics program from a major aerospace prime; important because it moves autonomous aircraft into carrier air-wing support rather than only experimental…
• Adjacent products: General Atomics carrier-capable UAS work, Kratos tactical UAS, Anduril/Fury autonomy programs, collaborative combat aircraft ecosystem

Audience

Defense

Workflow

Mission-planned unmanned aerial refueling for crewed aircraft, including deck handling, launch/recovery integration and tanker mission execution.

Capability

defense

Deployment environment

Carrier decks, naval aviation test environments and future carrier air wing operations.

Positioning tags

• Audience: Defense
• Workflow: Mission-planned unmanned aerial refueling for crewed aircraft, including deck handling, launch/recovery integration and tanker mission execution.
• Capability: defense
• Deployment environment: Carrier decks, naval aviation test environments and future carrier air wing operations.

Specifications

• Wingspan Spread Ft: 22.86 m / 75 ft
• Wingspan Ft: 22.9 m / 75 ft spread; 9.5 m / 31.3 ft folded
• Wingspan Folded Ft: 9.54 m / 31.3 ft
• Height Spread M: 2.99 m m
• Height Folded M: 4.79 m m
• Propulsion: Rolls-Royce AE3700N
• Length Ft: 15.54 m / 51 ft
• Aircraft Class: Carrier-based uncrewed aerial refueling aircraft
• Overall Length: 15.5 m / 51 ft length
• Dimensions: 3.0 m / 9.8 ft height spread; 4.8 m / 15.7 ft height folded
• Payload Options: Aerial refueling mission payload for carrier air wing extension
• Operational Environment: Carrier deck and naval aviation environments
• Launch Recovery: U.S. Navy carrier-deck integration
• Communication: Secure, interoperable communications for manned-unmanned teaming and complementary aerial-refueling tasking
• Autonomy Model: Autonomous taxi, takeoff, flight and landing capability described by Boeing
• Market Availability: U.S. Navy first operational carrier-based unmanned aircraft

Timeline / Research

• 2026-05-19 - Production Milestone - U.S. Navy clears Boeing MQ-25A Stingray for low-rate initial production - The U.S. Navy cleared MQ-25A Stingray into low-rate initial production after Milestone C approval.
• 2018-08-30 - Contract Award - U.S. Navy awards Boeing $805.3M MQ-25A Stingray design-build contract - The U.S. Navy selected Boeing for an $805.3 million engineering, manufacturing and development contract for MQ-25A St…

Operations Claims / Customers and deployments

• Production Status - low-rate initial production approved - 2026-05-19 - U.S. Navy - carrier aviation production program - The U.S. Navy cleared Boeing MQ-25A Stingray for low-rate initial production after Milestone C ap…
• Contract Value Usd - $805.3 million - 2018-08-30 - U.S. Navy - carrier-based unmanned aircraft program - The U.S. Navy awarded Boeing an $805.3 million design-build contract for the MQ-25A Stingray unmanned carrier avia…