The U.S. Navy’s first flight of the production-representative Boeing MQ-25 Stingray has officially slipped into early 2026, missing a long-projected 2025 milestone that senior officials had repeatedly described as crucial for the future of unmanned carrier aviation. The delay, confirmed by the Navy and Boeing and first reported by Aviation Week, underscores ongoing challenges in maturing the service’s first carrier-borne unmanned tanker—an aircraft expected to reshape carrier air wing operations for decades.
According to the Navy, the MQ-25 is now completing an extended series of ground evaluations, including structural checks, software validation, and systems certification. “The team is finalizing systems testing and flight clearance, with the first flight planned once certification is complete and weather permits,” the service stated. Boeing similarly noted that additional time is needed for “deliberate systems-level testing” and the approval of final airworthiness documentation before the aircraft can take to the sky.
In recent months, the MQ-25 team has pushed through several major pre-flight activities: structural tests on a static test article, initial engine runs, completion of flight-certified software, and command-and-control exercises using the Navy’s Unmanned Carrier Aviation Mission Control System (UMCS). Boeing emphasized the engine runs and UMCS integration as particularly significant, demonstrating that the ground infrastructure for fleet-wide unmanned operations is steadily maturing.
This upcoming flight will be the first for a production-representative MQ-25, a substantial step beyond the earlier T1 prototype that has already validated aerial refueling with the F/A-18F, F-35C, and E-2D. The new aircraft incorporates structural, avionics, and systems changes intended to meet long-term operational demands—including routine deck handling, sustained flight cycles, and future upgrades for autonomy and ISR mission sets.
The shift to 2026 follows a turbulent year marked by a federal government shutdown and labor strikes at Boeing’s MidAmerica and St. Louis facilities. Although neither Boeing nor the Navy directly attributed the slip to those events, both disruptions affected industrial momentum during key phases of assembly and test preparation. Throughout 2024 and into early 2025, leaders across Naval Air Systems Command (NAVAIR) and Boeing had insisted that a first flight before the end of 2025 remained within reach.
Vice Adm. Daniel Cheever, commander of Naval Air Forces, was emphatic earlier this year: “We will fly MQ-25 in 25… and get that thing on a carrier in 26,” he said at the WEST 2025 conference. Boeing’s program lead, Dan Gillian, echoed that optimism in April, saying, “The airplane, the system and the team are all saying this is going to happen this year.” But senior officials also cautioned that the timeline left little margin. NAVAIR chief Vice Adm. Carl Chebi remarked that meeting the 2025 target would require “a ton of work,” including tight configuration control, rapid issue resolution, and careful negotiation over which features to defer beyond the first flight.
Despite the latest delay, Navy officials continue to stress the strategic weight of the MQ-25 program. Described by Cheever as the system that “unlocks the future for manned–unmanned teaming on the aircraft carrier,” the Stingray is slated to be the Navy’s first operational unmanned aircraft to integrate fully into carrier deck cycles. Its introduction is expected to free a significant portion of F/A-18E/F Super Hornet sorties currently devoted to tanking—up to one-third, according to Navy data. With its Cobham ARS refueling pod, the MQ-25 is projected to deliver 14,000–16,000 lb of fuel at a radius of 500 nautical miles, significantly extending the reach and flexibility of carrier strike fighters.
Beyond refueling, the Stingray is also planned to support intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance missions. Early program documentation described potential carriage of SIGINT, EO/IR, and AIS sensors, along with recovery tanking to support cyclic carrier operations.
Yet the MQ-25’s development path remains complex. Pentagon acquisition reports show that several major milestones—including the first engineering and manufacturing development (EMD) flight and initial operational capability—have slipped by roughly two years over recent cycles. The GAO has warned repeatedly of cost risks, especially if low-rate initial production proceeds before adequate flight testing. The Navy’s FY2026 budget request includes $1.04 billion for procurement and RDT&E, funding three LRIP aircraft and continued UMCS development.
To support the program, Boeing opened a new $200-million production facility in Illinois in 2024, while the Navy installed UMCS aboard USS George H.W. Bush (CVN 77) and at shore-based sites. Test pilots have already demonstrated manned-unmanned teaming concepts linking F/A-18 crews with MQ-25 control systems—an early preview of the collaborative combat aircraft (CCA) operations envisioned for future carrier air wings.
For now, all eyes in Navy aviation are on early 2026, when the long-awaited first flight of the production MQ-25 will finally signal whether the program has regained stability—and whether the Navy’s broader unmanned carrier aviation ambitions remain on track.
