Aerospace giant Boeing on Friday said it was investing $200m to start making the US Navy’s latest unmanned aircraft.
Boeing is building a new factory at MidAmerica St. Louis Airport where it will produce the MQ-25 Stingray, the Navy’s first carrier-based unmanned aircraft in a project that will create an initial 150 jobs.
The company and the Navy have for two years been flight testing the Stingray from MidAmerica Airport, where it has refuelled an F/A-18 Super Hornet, an E-2D Hawkeye and an F-35C Lightning II.
The US Navy intends to procure more than 70 MQ-25 aircraft to help extend the range of the carrier air wing, and the majority of those will be built in the new facility, Boeing said in a statement.
Boeing is currently producing the first seven MQ-25 aircraft, plus two ground test articles, at its St. Louis facilities, and they will be transported to MidAmerica for flight test. The MQ-25 program office, including its core engineering team, will remain based in St. Louis.
