Boeing sets sights on new Stingray factory
Computerised rendering of the new Boeing factory. (Photo: Boeing)
New facility in St Louis will help Boeing meet USN requirement for more than 70 MQ-25 carrier-based unmanned refuelling aircraft.
Boeing is to complete a new 300,000ft2 (28,000m2) factory in 2024 at MidAmerica St Louis Airport in Illinois to produce the MQ-25 Stingray carrier-based unmanned tanker aircraft for the USN.
The manufacturer is already producing the first seven MQ-25s plus two System Demonstration Test Articles at its St Louis facilities. These aircraft will be transported to MidAmerica for flight tests.
According to Shephard Defence Insight, the USN intends to procure a total of 76 MQ-25 aircraft to help extend the range of the carrier air wing. Most of these Stingrays will be built in the new factory.
Working with the USN, Boeing has already put a company-owned MQ-25 (T1) through flight tests at MidAmerica. T1 has refuelled an F/A-18 Super Hornet, an E-2D Hawkeye and an F-35C Lightning II.
Boeing digitally engineered the design for the entire MQ-25 aircraft and its systems, the company claimed in a 17 September announcement, ‘resulting in high-fidelity models that are used to drive quality, efficiency and flexibility throughout the production and sustainment process’.
The new production facility will include robotic automation and advanced assembly techniques, the company added.
Related Equipment in Defence Insight
More from Air Warfare
-
![Paris Air Show 2025: Poland orders Apache targeting systems and will establish local support facility]()
Paris Air Show 2025: Poland orders Apache targeting systems and will establish local support facility
In 2024, Poland agreed to purchase 96 Boeing AH-64E Apache combat helicopters in a deal worth as much as US$12 billion. The deal included 97 AN/ASQ-170 modernised target acquisition and designation sight/AN/AAR-11 modernised pilot night vision sensors (M-TADS/PNVS).
-
![Paris Air Show 2025: A400M production moved forward as development plans outlined]()
Paris Air Show 2025: A400M production moved forward as development plans outlined
It is more than a decade since the Airbus A400M tactical lift aircraft entered service. More than 130 aircraft are in service around the world with nine countries, while another order has been made by Indonesia. The company is now looking to lower operational costs and increase the number of potential missions.
-
![Expanded focus – unleashing the potential of commercial SATCOM for defence]()
Expanded focus – unleashing the potential of commercial SATCOM for defence
In conversation... Intelsat's Ray Lindenmayer talks to Shephard's Gerrard Cowan about the new capabilities advanced commercial SATCOM technologies can provide for military customers, and how industry and government can best work together to achieve maximum effect in orbit.
-
![Paris Air Show 2025: Boeing confirms “very early infancy” C-17 Globemaster III production restart discussions as European market opportunity looms]()
Paris Air Show 2025: Boeing confirms “very early infancy” C-17 Globemaster III production restart discussions as European market opportunity looms
The discussion of the C-17 comes off the back of Boeing’s focus on a growing European demand for defence equipment amid a growing threat on the continent.
