Navy Awards First Production Contract for MQ-25A Stingray

Sept. 15, 2026 | By Neil Lobeda, Unmanned Carrier Aviation |

The Navy awarded a fixed-price incentive contract valued at $562 million to the Boeing Company for Lot 1 of the low-rate initial production of the MQ-25A Stingray carrier-based unmanned aircraft.

The contract provides funds for three Lot 1 Stingrays and additional funding for the advanced acquisition of long-lead components to support three Lot 2 MQ-25As; initial deliveries from Lot 1 are expected to begin arriving in 2029.

"Awarding this first LRIP contract marks a pivotal transition from development to operational reality and is a testament to the focused effort of our joint government and industry teams," said Navy Capt. Daniel Fucito, the program manager for Unmanned Carrier Aviation. "MQ-25A will deliver the advanced reach, lethality and survivability our warfighters need to outpace evolving threats and dominate the future battle space."

In May, acting Navy Secretary Hung Cao announced that the MQ-25A Stingray program received approval to move into the production and deployment phase.

The MQ-25A program of record comprises 76 air vehicles, including four engineering development and manufacturing and five system demonstration test articles. Currently, seven test aircraft are in production.

As the world's first fully integrated, carrier-based unmanned aerial vehicle, the MQ-25A serves as the pathfinder for the future of unmanned carrier aviation. The Stingray will provide the carrier air wing with essential organic refueling, allowing more F/A-18 Super Hornets to focus on strike missions. This will expand the wing's operational reach while preserving the service life of the aircraft, improving readiness across the Super Hornet fleet. The Stingray is also at the forefront of integrating unmanned systems alongside manned platforms within the carrier air wing, setting the stage for future advancements in naval aviation.

Motors Assembled at Tobyhanna Army Depot Power Drone to World-Record Flight

Aug. 21, 2026 | By Lindsay Grant, U.S. Army Materiel Command |

A battery-powered small unmanned aircraft system recently shattered a world endurance record, flying for more than eight hours in the desert heat — a milestone achieved using critical propulsion components assembled by the Army's organic industrial base.  

During the Game of Drones 26-2 demonstration at Edwards Air Force Base, California, July 15-17, two brushless direct current motors assembled at Tobyhanna Army Depot, Pennsylvania, successfully powered a Group 1 small UAS to a record-breaking flight time of eight hours, 41 minutes and 43 seconds. The aircraft flew for approximately 300 miles before safely landing, surpassing the previous record by 50 minutes.  

The record-breaking flight represents a major milestone for Army Materiel Command and its efforts to build secure, domestic supply chains for critical defense technologies. The demonstration served as the first major outdoor operational test of the Tobyhanna-assembled motors on an active aircraft.  

"AMC is proud to provide materiel solutions to support innovation across the uncrewed systems spectrum," said Army Capt. Lee Washburn, AMC military liaison for advanced manufacturing of small UAS. "From providing components to soldiers at innovation labs, to providing industry clean supply chain solutions in support of drone dominance, it is our goal to continue to participate in events that demonstrate our capabilities and help refine our components for the warfighter based upon realistic testing."  

Rapid, collaborative on-site manufacturing made the achievement possible. The drone was designed in less than 10 minutes using computer prompts via adaptability software. Within 24 hours of takeoff, the aircraft was fabricated inside a mobile containerized production factory using commercial 3D printers, integrated with the Tobyhanna brushless motors and a battery from an industry partner and assembled on-site by a three-person team.  

The event, sponsored by the Defense Contract Management Agency blue list team, highlighted a strategic shift toward domestic production. By establishing manufacturing capabilities within the Army's organic industrial base, the service is working to eliminate foreign dependencies for critical parts.  

"This is a huge milestone for AMC and Tobyhanna, considering the fact that we just cut the ribbon on the new brushless motor line on June 30," said Jon Strzelec, the AMC advanced manufacturing lead for small UAS.  

AMC recently began transforming the organic industrial base to produce and assemble various critical small UAS components, including frames at Rock Island Arsenal-Joint Manufacturing and Technology Center, Illinois, and batteries at Red River Army Depot, Texas.  

A key focus of this initiative is developing organic industrial base capabilities to help government, industry and academic partners secure Defense Contract Management Agency approval for systems and components to be included on the blue list. The blue list is an aggregated reference portal of compliant, cybersecure and U.S.-manufactured UAS platforms and components, facilitating safer, faster procurement for defense users. AMC is already seeing positive results through this initiative, having sent small UAS that the organic industrial base fully assembled to several Army units for use in training events. Additionally, two brushless motor form factors and multiple lithium-ion battery configurations from Tobyhanna are being tested on various platforms at Redstone Test Center's new UAS test operations center.  

"Game of Drones was proof that industry and the government can work together in creative ways to produce exceptional results," Strzelec said. "The event showcases exactly what the Army set out to do — provide opportunities for industry to partner with the Army and let the Army leverage the innovation and technical depth of industry."  

As AMC continues to scale its advanced manufacturing capabilities including chassis, circuit card assemblies and propellers, its coordination with Defense Contract Management Agency remains vital.  

"As AMC's production efforts across the [organic industrial base] continue to expand, we will continue to work with [the Defense Contract Management Agency] in not only blue listing these components but also providing them to the experimental test force for Game of Drones events to innovate and break other performance and endurance records," Washburn said.  

The small UAS performance data from Edwards Air Force Base has been officially submitted to the Guinness Book of World Records for verification.