Boeing rolled out the first production prototype of the MQ-25A Stingray unmanned refueling aircraft, developed for the US Navy as a carrier-based aerial refueling vehicle.
Unlike the early T1 prototype, which has been flying since 2019, this aircraft is configured to meet Navy operational standards. Following the rollout and taxi test, engineers declared the aircraft’s autonomous control system successfully tested.
By the mid-2010s, the Navy concluded that the effective range of aircraft carriers had been reduced by the emergence of advanced long-range anti-ship missiles among potential adversaries. To ensure that fighters (F-35C and F/A-18E/F Super Hornet) can reach their target and return, they require aerial refueling well beyond the carrier strike group’s deployment area.
Conventional F/A-18E/F fighters with drop tanks perform the refueling role on aircraft carriers. Because of this, up to 20-30% of their sorties are spent carrying fuel for their allies rather than carrying out strike missions.
The Stingray is designed to return fighters to their primary mission – combat. The MQ-25 is designed with stealth technology, allowing it to operate closer to enemy air defense zones.
The first production MQ-25A Stingray being rolled out:
The MQ-25A, powered by a single Rolls-Royce AE 3007N turbofan engine producing approximately 4,500 kgf of thrust, has a maximum takeoff weight of approximately 20,000 kg, a length of 15.5 m, and a wingspan of 22.9 m (when folded for deck stowage, it spans 9.5 m). The UAV carries 6,800 kg of fuel (enough to replenish two fighters) via a Cobham ARS refueling system (a hose-and-cone type). One aircraft can be refueled at a time. The aircraft has a range of 500 nautical miles (925 km). It is equipped with a Raytheon multispectral EO/IR camera for navigation.
The use of the Stingray will nearly double the combat radius of carrier-based fighters (F-35C, F/A-18) to 1,300–1,600 km, freeing up combat aircraft from this role.
US Navy planners believe the MQ-25A is more than just a tanker: it is being considered a starting point for the development of a more extensive multi-role UAV fleet aboard aircraft carriers.
