PORTFOLIO ACQUISITION EXECUTIVE AVIATION, Patuxent River, Md. (Oct. 19, 2026) – In a historic U.S. naval aviation event, an aircraft carrier connected to, and controlled, an unmanned aerial refueler MQ-25A Stingray more than 2,100 miles away. During a Preliminary Sea Trial aboard Nimitz-class aircraft carrier USS Ronald Reagan (CVN 76), the ship's Unmanned Air Warfare Center (UAWC) used its MD-5C Ground Control Station to connect Beyond Line-of-Sight with an MQ-25A test aircraft using a Proliferated Low Earth Orbit (pLEO) satellite network. The Stingray was located at Boeing's facility in Mascoutah, Illinois, while the ship was underway in the Pacific Ocean. (Graphic via DOW)
“The MQ-25A Stingray’s carrier-based refueling capabilities enable F/A-18 Super Hornets to fly farther and longer,” said the Acting Secretary of the Navy, the Honorable Hung Cao. “The integration of this unmanned aerial refueler demonstrates the transformational change our manned and unmanned asset integration provides the Fleet.”
This test was one in a series of build-up exercises designed to validate procedures, networks and interfaces. Previously, the Unmanned Carrier Aviation Program Office’s (PMA-268) Unmanned Carrier Aviation Mission Control System team conducted pier side and at-sea tests with the MQ-25 Integrated Test Team, which includes U.S. Navy, Boeing, and Lockheed Martin.
"We have redefined naval power projection," said Capt. Daniel Fucito, PMA-268’s program manager. "This first-ever underway connection between a carrier-based UAWC and an MQ-25A aircraft proves that the Carrier Air Wing of tomorrow is a reality today."
The MD-5C GCS integrates the Navy's Command, Control, Communications, Computers and Intelligence (C4I) network with Lockheed Martin's MDCX hardware and software and other government-produced equipment to provide command and control of the MQ-25A. The system will also provide command and control for the Navy's future unmanned carrier aircraft and the Air Wing of the Future.
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-18E/F aircraft to focus on strike missions and expand the operational reach of the air wing.