MQ-25 Stingray prototype T1 refuels an F/A-18F Super Hornet in mid-air for the first time

BEIRUT — Offering a “glimpse into the future of naval aviation,” the Navy’s MQ-25 Stingray unmanned refueling aircraft is expected to take to the skies over the Middle East, where it will join the MQ-4C Triton UAV that’s already there, according to the Navy’s leader in US Central Command.

“The [MQ-25] platform will set a new standard for future unmanned operations from the sea,” commander of the NAVCENT and Fifth Fleet Vice Adm. George Wikoff reportedly said this week at the Manama Air Power Symposium.

The MQ-25, which is still in development, paired with the MQ-4C will “provide fleet commanders the most modern detection and collection centers available with open architectures to allow future expansion,” he said.

The two unmanned systems will be deployed on board of USS Abraham Lincoln carrier alongside P-8 Poseidon and F-35 lightning fighter jets, according to Wikoff’s remarks as reported by National Defense magazine. A Central Command spokesperson confirmed Wikoff’s comments.

As of April, the Navy expected its first MQ-25s to go operational in 2026, though National Defense reported it could join the fleet in 2025.

“The MQ-25 gives us a glimpse into the future of naval aviation, demonstrating the potential force multiplier advanced uncrewed systems will play in the carrier air wing moving forward,” Wikoff said in Manama.

In August the Navy said it had finished the first carrier-based control room designed to operate the MQ-25 aboard the George H. W. Bush, and the next month MQ-25 maker Boeing said it had demonstrated the ability for a crew of a P-8 surveillance aircraft to control the MQ-25 mid-flight.

Aviation Electronics Technician Second Class Matt Belvery, assigned to Unmanned Patrol Squadron (VUP) 19, prepares to begin postflight on an MQ-4C Triton at Naval Air Station (NAS) Sigonella, Italy, Jul. 2, 2024. (US Navy photo by LT Alex Delgado/released)

The MQ-4C Triton, which reached initial operating capability last year, is a large, long-range unmanned platform based on the Air Force’s Global Hawk. The Navy announced in October that it had established a third “orbit” of Triton operations within Fifth Fleet’s Area of Operations (AOR), after deployments to Guam and Italy.

US Central Command’s AOR covers Northeast Africa, Middle East, Central and South Asia, and the Fifth Fleet’s encompasses the Arabian Gulf, Red Sea, Gulf of Oman and part of Indian Ocean, a vast expanse that also includes critical chokepoints like the Strait of Hormuz, Bab el-Mandeb and Suez Canal.

The MQ-25 will join a host of other unmanned platforms the US has deployed to the Middle East, many of them surface maritime vessels, in a separate effort led by the Navy’s Task Group 59.1.