The first Boeing MQ-25 undergoes deck-handling trials in 2021. Boeing has held export discussions with the UK, but the aircraft has not yet been tested for STOBAR carriers such as those the UK operates. (US Navy)
Boeing anticipates that the US Navy (USN) will release the first low-rate initial production (LRIP) request for proposals (RFP) for the MQ-25 Stingray in the latter half of 2024, said Troy Rutherford, the company's MQ-25 programme manager, on 25 June, ahead of the Farnborough International Airshow held from 22 to 26 July. The company expects a contract award in mid-2025.
Six MQ-25s are under production at Boeing's St Louis, Missouri factory. One of the Stingrays is a static test aircraft, while the remaining five are engineering, manufacturing, and development (EMD) examples, intended to serve as aerial test vehicles in advance of LRIP. The first flight of an EMD MQ-25 is scheduled for December 2025, Rutherford said.
Although the first MQ-25s are being produced at Boeing's factory in St Louis, Missouri, production is set to move to MidAmerica St Louis Airport in Mascoutah, Illinois, in late 2025.
Meanwhile, Boeing's MQ-25 development team is working on internally funded software that would allow a USN F/A-18 Super Hornet or E-2D Hawkeye to control MQ-25s, with the primary benefit being that an aircraft in need of fuel could instruct the Stingray where and how to fly.
Much of the software is new rather than being ported from the prototype MQ-25, which first flew in September 2019, said Rutherford, due to the introduction of a new ground control station and USN contractual requirements.
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