US Navy Awards Boeing $80M MQ-25A Stingray Contract to Upgrade Carrier Tanker Drone

The US Navy awarded Boeing an $80 million indefinite-delivery, indefinite-quantity contract covering engineering, integration and configuration support for its MQ-25A Stingray carrier-based tanker drone. The ceiling-value agreement runs through October 2031 and carried no funding obligation at award, so it should not be treated as a fully funded production purchase. The MQ-25 is being developed to refuel carrier-based aircraft autonomously using a hose-and-drogue system, extending the reach of naval air wings and reducing the tanker burden on combat jets. A separate September 2026 production order covered three initial aircraft and components associated with a subsequent lot.