The U.S. Navy’s first manufacturing consultant MQ-25 Stingray flew for the primary time on April 25, 2026, demonstrating the flexibility to autonomously taxi, take off, fly and land.
Boeing and the U.S. Navy have formally introduced first check flight of a manufacturing consultant operational MQ-25A Stingray unmanned tanker. The Aviationist was the primary and solely outlet to report concerning the milestone quickly after the plane landed again at MidAmerica St. Louis Airport in Mascoutah, Illinois, on Apr. 25, 2026.
The primary flight
The MQ-25A took off at 10:49 a.m. CDT and flew for about two hours, in line with the service. The check noticed each Boeing and Navy Air Automobile Pilots (AVPs) controlling the plane from the Unmanned Service Aviation Mission Management System (UMCS) MD-5 floor management station, which integrates Lockheed Martin’s MDCX system.
The pictures and video launched by Boeing present the MQ-25 accompanied by a company-owned TA-4J Skyhawk and a U.S. Navy UC-12M Huron as chase plane. The drone was carrying the identical Cobham ARS pod already utilized by the F/A-18, which can enable it to ship as much as 14,000–16,000 lb of gasoline at 500 nautical miles, the Navy informed Congress in an August 2025 report.
A brand new period in naval aviation takes flight!
The primary @USNavy MQ-25A Stingray™ has accomplished its first flight, demonstrating its capacity to taxi, take off, fly, and land autonomously.
MQ-25A will prolong the provider air wing’s attain by offering unmanned aerial refueling. pic.twitter.com/mZKCb8IpBE
— Boeing Protection (@BoeingDefense) April 27, 2026
The maiden flight demonstrated the MQ-25’s capacity to autonomously taxi, take off, fly, land and reply to instructions from the GCS. The flight adopted a pre-determined mission plan which included a collection of maneuvers and checks, efficiently validating the plane’s primary flight controls, engine efficiency, and dealing with traits, in line with the service and the corporate.
“Reaching this primary flight underscores the robust partnership between the Navy and our trade companions,” mentioned Rear Adm. Tony Rossi, who oversees the Program Govt Workplace for Unmanned Aviation and Strike Weapons (PEO (U&W)). “The MQ-25A is not only an plane: it’s step one in integrating unmanned aerial refueling onto the provider deck, instantly enabling our manned fighters to fly additional and quicker. This functionality is significant to the way forward for naval aviation.”
As we famous in our earlier reporting, the primary flight of the manufacturing consultant MQ-25 comes nearly seven years after the primary flight of the T1 check asset on Sept. 19, 2019.
“Right now’s profitable flight builds on years of studying from our MQ-25A T1 prototype and represents a significant maturation of this system,” mentioned Dan Gillian, vp and common supervisor, Boeing Air Dominance. “The MQ-25A is probably the most complicated autonomous system ever developed for the provider setting, and this historic achievement advances us nearer to securely integrating the Stingray into the provider air wing.”
The plane is the primary of 4 Engineering Growth Mannequin (EMD) plane that shall be delivered to the Navy beneath an $805 million contract awarded in 2018. The corporate beforehand mentioned {that a} complete of 9 plane are being constructed to conduct the required testing in help of that timeline, with 5 of those plane devoted to static testing.
Earlier this yr, in January, Boeing and the U.S. Navy’s Naval Air Programs Command (NAVAIR) introduced that the manufacturing consultant prototype was present process taxi trials. Afterward, the plane accomplished high-speed taxi testing, paving the best way for the primary flight.
“I’m extremely happy with the workforce for working tirelessly over the past a number of months to attain this milestone,” mentioned Capt. Daniel Fucito, Unmanned Service Aviation program supervisor (PMA-268). “The profitable first flight formally initiates the rigorous flight check program, which can give attention to increasing the plane’s efficiency envelope and verifying all mission programs.”
Boeing and the Navy will conduct extra check flights out of MidAmerica St. Louis Airport to additional validate the plane’s flight controls and capabilities, increase the flight envelope and proceed floor management station integration. As soon as this part is accomplished, the MQ-25 will fly to Naval Air Station Patuxent River, Maryland, to organize for provider {qualifications}.
A Lengthy-Awaited First Flight
The MQ-25 program suffered some delays in its improvement which slowed down the transition to the EMD flight testing part. The unmanned tanker was first anticipated to succeed in the Preliminary Operational Functionality (IOC) in 2024, after the primary deliveries in 2022.
December 2025 noticed the affirmation by senior officers that the primary flight, described as a pivotal milestone for the way forward for unmanned provider aviation, slipped to early 2026. On the time, the IOC was already moved to Fiscal 12 months 2027.
The protection funds request for FY2027, nevertheless, now states that IOC has been additional moved to the second quarter of FY2029. Preliminary Operational Check and Analysis (IOT&E) is deliberate between the second and fourth quarter of FY2029.
The Navy’s MQ-25 drone refueler gained’t attain IOC till FY-2029, in line with new funds paperwork, one other main delay for this system. It was initially supposed to succeed in IOC in 2024 however that date has been pushed again a number of instances pic.twitter.com/1Pi9JYmkQq
— Audrey Decker (@audrey_decker9) April 27, 2026
In the meantime, the Navy is continuous its deliberate acquisition of 76 MQ-25s, which additionally embody the 9 for use for testing, for a to $181.6 million flyaway unit price. Since final 2025, the service included three plane per yr, which can enhance to 5 per yr in 2028 and to seven per yr in 2029.
