The U.S. Navy’s first production representative, the MQ-25 Stingray, first flew on April 25, 2026, demonstrating autonomous taxi, takeoff, flight, and landing capabilities.
Boeing and the U.S. Navy have officially announced the first test flight of the production flagship MQ-25A Stingray unmanned tanker. aeronautics On April 25, 2026, the aircraft touched down at MidAmerica St. in Mascoutah, Illinois. We are the first and only media outlet to report on the milestone immediately after landing back at St. Louis Airport.
first flight
The MQ-25A took off at 10:49 a.m. CDT and flew for about two hours, according to the service. The test saw both Boeing and Navy Air Vehicle Pilots (AVPs) control the aircraft from the Unmanned Carrier Aviation Mission Control System (UMCS) MD-5 ground control station, which integrates Lockheed Martin’s MDCX system.
Images and videos released by Boeing show the MQ-25, the company’s own TA-4J Skyhawk, and the U.S. Navy’s UC-12M Huron as chase aircraft. The drone was equipped with the same Cobham ARS pods that the F/A-18 already uses, which can deliver up to 14,000 to 16,000 pounds of fuel at 500 nautical miles, the Navy told Congress in an August 2025 report.
A new era in naval aviation arrives!
first @USNavy The MQ-25A Stingray™ has completed its first flight, demonstrating the ability to taxi, take off, fly and land autonomously.
The MQ-25A extends the reach of the carrier air wing by providing unmanned aerial refueling. pic.twitter.com/mZKCb8IpBE
— Boeing Defense (@BoeingDefense) April 27, 2026
The first flight demonstrated the MQ-25’s ability to autonomously taxi, take off, fly, land, and respond to commands from the GCS. The flight followed a predetermined mission plan that included a series of maneuvers and tests and successfully validated the aircraft’s basic flight controls, engine performance and handling characteristics, according to the Air Force and the company.
“The success of this first flight highlights the strong partnership between the Navy and our industry partners,” said Rear Admiral Tony Rossi, who oversees the Unmanned Aerial and Strike Weapons Program Office (PEO(U&W)). “The MQ-25A is more than just an aircraft. It is the first step toward integrating unmanned aerial refueling into the aircraft carrier deck, allowing manned fighters to fly farther and faster. This capability is critical to the future of naval aviation.”
As noted in previous reports, the first flight of the production flagship MQ-25 occurred nearly seven years after the first flight of the T1 test asset on September 19, 2019.
“Today’s successful flight builds on years of learning from the MQ-25A T1 prototype and represents a major maturation of the program,” said Dan Gillian, vice president and general manager of Boeing Air Dominance. “The MQ-25A is the most complex autonomous system ever developed for the aircraft carrier environment, and this historic achievement brings us closer to safely integrating the Stingray into the carrier air wing.”
The aircraft is the first of four Engineering Development Model (EMD) aircraft to be delivered to the Navy under an $805 million contract awarded in 2018. The company previously said a total of nine aircraft are being built to perform the testing needed to support that schedule, with five of those aircraft dedicated to static testing.
Earlier this year, in January, Boeing and the U.S. Naval Air Systems Command (NAVAIR) announced that a production flagship prototype was undergoing taxi testing. Later, the aircraft completed high-speed taxi tests, paving the way for its first flight.
“I am very proud of the team that has worked tirelessly over the past few months to achieve this milestone,” said Capt. Daniel Fucito, Unmanned Aerial Vehicle Aerial (PMA-268) program manager. “The successful first flight officially begins a rigorous flight test program focused on extending the performance envelope of the aircraft and validating all mission systems.”
Boeing and the Navy will use MidAmerica St. Petersburg to further validate the aircraft’s flight controls and capabilities, expand its flight range, and continue ground control integration. Additional test flights will be conducted at St. Louis Airport. Once this phase is complete, the MQ-25 will fly to Naval Air Station Patuxent River, Maryland to prepare for aircraft carrier qualification.
The long-awaited first flight
The MQ-25 program suffered some delays during development, delaying its transition to the EMD flight test phase. The unmanned tanker was expected to reach initial operational capability (IOC) in 2024, following its first delivery in 2022.
Senior officials confirmed in December 2025 that the first flight, described as a pivotal milestone for the future of unmanned aircraft carriers, had been postponed to early 2026. At that time, the IOC had already been moved to fiscal 2027.
However, the FY2027 defense budget request now states that the IOC has been moved further to the second quarter of FY2029. Initial Operational Test and Evaluation (IOT&E) is planned between the second and fourth quarters of FY2029.
The Navy’s MQ-25 drone refueling aircraft won’t reach IOC until FY-2029, according to a new budget document, another major delay in the program. It was originally scheduled to reach the IOC in 2024, but the date has been postponed several times. pic.twitter.com/1Pi9JYmkQq
— Audrey Decker (@audrey_decker9) April 27, 2026
Meanwhile, the Navy plans to continue acquiring 76 MQ-25s at a flight unit cost of up to $181.6 million, including nine that will be used for testing. Since 2025, the service has included three aircraft per year, with plans to increase to five aircraft per year in 2028 and seven aircraft per year in 2029.
