The MQ-25 Stingray tanker drone, an early production representative for the US Navy, has completed its first low-speed taxi test. After missing a self-imposed deadline to reach that milestone before the end of 2025, the service is now targeting the first flight for the uncrew aircraft earlier this year.
The taxi test took place at Boeing’s facility at MidAmerica Airport, located outside St. Louis, Missouri, according to social media posts from the company and Naval Air Systems (NAVAIR). Navy personnel from Air Test and Evaluation Squadron 23 (VX-23) and Air Test and Evaluation Squadron 24 (UX-24) participated in the program per NAVAIR.
First operational MQ-25A Stingray
™
for the @USNavy has successfully completed its first taxi test.
At the push of a button from the air vehicle pilots, the Stingray taxied autonomously and executed a series of maneuvers to prove its functionality. pic.twitter.com/bNHGKIYsPa
Tax testing, with the drone running under its own power, is an important step toward first flight. Exactly when this milestone was achieved was not immediately clear, and TWZ NAVAIR and Boeing have been contacted for more information.
Boeing announced earlier this summer that it would begin ground testing of the production representative MQ-25. A flying MQ-25 demonstrator, also known as the T1, has been used in flight and ground testing in support of the Stingray program for years now. However, this is a test article that is not fully reflective of a production-standard aircraft.
Footage released today offers new views of the drone’s exotic top-mounted ‘flush’ air inlet and its engine exhaust inset inside the fuselage, shown at the top and bottom of this story. TWZ Particular attention has been drawn in the past to the inlet, which, despite not being a clear focus of the MQ-25 program, speaks to other less observable (stealthy) features of the design, as well as its overall design.
One of the new top-down views of the production representative MQ-25 showing its ‘flush’ inlet. Take over Boeing
Inset view of the drone’s exhaust system. Take over Boeing
Boeing has already confirmed to us that the design of the MQ-25 was influenced by the company’s submission to the Navy’s passive unmanned Carrier Launched Airborne Surveillance and Strike (UCLASS) program. UCLASS envisioned a stealthy carrier-based drone capable of performing kinetic strikes and intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance (ISR) missions. Despite significant work to field that capability, including a ground-breaking flight test using a pair of Northrop Grumman-built X-47B drones, the Navy later abandoned the UCLASS plans in favor of an unidentified tanker. That decision, in turn, led to the MQ-25.
The video also offers a new look at the retractable sensor turret under the nose of the production representative Stingray configuration. Turrets like these typically have a mix of electro-optical and infrared cameras, and sometimes laser range finders, laser spot markers, and laser designators. In addition to its primary role as a pilotless aerial refueling platform, the Navy says the MQ-25 will have a secondary ISR function. The overall design of the Stingray opens up the possibility of taking on other missions including kinetic strikes in the future, e.g TWZ has been explored in detail previously.
A look at the retracted sensor turret on a production-representative MQ-25. A companion refueling store, also seen here under the drone’s left wing, is how the drone will perform its primary refueling mission. Take over Boeing
Boeing has been working to deliver nine pre-production Stingrays in recent years, five of which will be used for fatigue and other static test work. The Navy plans to eventually acquire a total of 76 Stingrays, and recently targeted 2027 to reach initial operational capability (IOC) with the type.
First @USNavy The MQ-25 Stingray was recently moved from the production line to our static test facility. It is the first of nine Stingrays to be put through static, fatigue and flight tests to ensure durability and airworthiness. pic.twitter.com/2UvYoKnK7G
The MQ-25 program has been beset by delays and cost overruns in recent years. The original goal was for the initial batch of pre-production Stingrays to be delivered in 2022 and for the type to arrive at the IOC in 2024. Last year, the Navy repeatedly stressed that it was working hard to finally get to the first flight before 2026.
“We’ll be flying the MQ-25 in ’25. You can quote me,” Vice President Daniel Chever, commander of the Naval Air Forces, said in January 2025. “We’ll fly that platform in ’25 and get that thing on a carrier in ’26 and start integrating that thing.”
There is a lot of confidence in the MQ-25 and [20]25. There’s a ton of work to get the MQ-25 and ’25,” now-retired Navy Vice President Carl Cheby, then head of Naval Air Systems Command (NAVAIR), also said last April. “70% of the capability we can deliver, [that] Industry delivers us, late. So we are working hard. “
Needless to say, the first flight slipped behind schedule to 2026.
These hurdles aside, Navy officials continue to speak out in support of the MQ-25 program, which they see as a significant range extension proposition for current and future aircraft on the service’s carriers. The Navy also needs the Stingrays so it can stop flying crewed F/A-18F Super Hornets in the tanker role, which makes up a significant number of their sorties during their deployments, freeing up those planes for other missions and reducing wear and tear on those airframes.
A fellow F/A-18F was seen carrying drop tanks for refueling stores and tanker duty. USN
The Navy regularly talks of the MQ-25 being a “pathfinder” for other future carrier-based unmanned aviation capabilities. As of 2021, the service is talking about a goal of eventually seeing 60 percent or more of the aircraft in the carrier’s air wings unmanned.
Last year, the Navy announced a new boost in efforts to acquire a fleet of carrier-based Collaborative Combat Aircraft (CCA) drones, hiring four companies (Enduril, Boeing, General Atomics, and Northrop Grumman) to develop conceptual designs. Lockheed Martin is also now under contract with the Navy to develop the underlying common control architecture. NAVAIR has now also established a CCA-focused Future Advanced Capability (FAC) Program Office. The Navy previously entered into a formal agreement with the US Air Force and US Marine Corps to work together on CCA developments, to ensure interoperability, including the ability to seamlessly exchange control of drones in future operations.
In the meantime, aside from just getting the MQ-25 flying, the Navy still has a lot of work to do to integrate the Stingray into regular operations. As noted, critical command and control architectures, along with related strategies, techniques, and procedures, are still being developed.
Stingrays also have to be woven into the existing rhythm of flight deck operations, just figuring out how to rotate them in between the hustle and bustle of other activities. Carrier decks are a physically more confined environment, and present very different operating conditions compared to bases on land. This is also true for crewed aircraft operations, where individuals on board can provide additional situational awareness. A wearable glove-like system that crews can use for deck handling was used exclusively during testing of the X-47B. A different type of portable control device has also been used in testing the T1 MQ-25 demonstrator in the past. The video released today doesn’t appear to offer any new insights into how the Navy plans to operate the Stingray on carrier decks.
A glove-like system used during testing of X-47Bs. USN
A look at the deck control equipment used in a previous test involving the T1 MQ-25 demonstrator. USN
The Navy is also developing new force structures and training pipelines to support the MQ-25 program.
With taxi-testing underway, the MQ-25 is at least one step closer to its maiden flight.
Update: 3:12pm EST —
Boeing and the Navy have now confirmed TWZ The first taxi test took place yesterday.
“The first US Navy MQ-25A Stingray is in the final stages of ground testing and completed its first taxi test yesterday,” a company spokesperson told us in a statement. “Boeing and the Navy will now conduct additional taxi tests and will then complete deliberate system level testing and review and approve the final airworthiness artifacts required for flight clearance. Once that is complete and we have an appropriate weather window, the aircraft will fly.”
“The [MQ-25] The aircraft is now in the final stages of ground testing and has successfully completed its first low speed taxi test [on] Jan. 29,” Navy Rear Adm. Tony Rossi, program executive officer for Unmanned Aviation and Strike Weapons (PEO U&W), also said. TWZ In a statement. “The team is finalizing system testing and flight clearance, with first flight planned once certification is complete and weather clearance is received.”
“The MQ-25A Navy-Boeing team continues to make progress toward first flight,” Rossi added. “Over the past several months, the team has completed structural testing of the MQ-25A Stingray in stable aircraft, conducted initial engine runs, completed its flight-certified software, and commanded the vehicle from the Unmanned Carrier Aviation Mission Control System (UMCS).”
