US Navy tests long-range control of MQ-25A tanker drone from aircraft carrier to extend fighter combat range.

The U.S. Navy aircraft carrier USS Ronald Reagan (CVN 76) remotely controlled a Boeing MQ-25A Stingray unmanned tanker over a distance exceeding 2,100 miles (3,379 km) during a milestone command connectivity test. Operating in the Pacific Ocean, the carrier established a beyond-line-of-sight link with the aircraft at Boeing’s Mascoutah, Illinois facility using an MD-5C Ground Control Station and a low Earth orbit (LEO) satellite network. The demonstration validates long-range satellite-based command architecture required to shift aerial refueling responsibilities from strike fighters to dedicated carrier-based unmanned aircraft.

The MQ-25A Stingray aims to extend the combat range and endurance of U.S. Navy carrier-based fighters by providing aerial refueling farther from aircraft carriers, freeing F/A-18E/F Super Hornets from tanker duties for combat missions. (Picture source: Boeing)

On October 19, 2026, the U.S. Navy announced that the ninth Nimitz-class nuclear-powered carrier, the USS Ronald Reagan (CVN 76), had remotely controlled a Boeing MQ-25A Stingray unmanned tanker over a distance exceeding 2,100 statute miles (3,379 km), connecting the moving aircraft carrier in the Pacific Ocean with Boeing's facility in Mascoutah, Illinois. The test used an MD-5C Ground Control Station and a proliferated low Earth orbit (LEO) satellite network to establish command connectivity beyond direct radio range, an essential component of the Navy's planned transition from fighter-based aerial refueling to dedicated unmanned tankers. The MQ-25A is intended to transfer 6,350 kg of fuel at 926 km from its carrier, while the acquisition program covers 76 Stingrays, including 67 operational tankers, at an estimated $19.4 billion, with initial operational capability planned for 2029.

The USS Ronald Reagan's Unmanned Air Warfare Center (UAWC) combines the MD-5C control station, Lockheed Martin's MDCX mission-control software, Navy-developed equipment, and C4I communications infrastructure. Its installation required 11 concurrent ship modifications over 17 months, following the first operational MD-5C installation aboard the USS Theodore Roosevelt in March 2026 and the second aboard the USS Ronald Reagan in August. The satellite network operates through low Earth orbit spacecraft below 2,000 km altitude, compared with 35,786 km for geostationary satellites. A 550 km satellite has a theoretical two-way overhead propagation time of 3.7 milliseconds, excluding processing and routing, compared with 239 milliseconds one-way through an idealized geostationary connection. Remaining requirements include control transfers between shore and ship stations, interrupted-link procedures, and command continuity during simultaneous carrier launches and recoveries.

Related topic: USS Ronald Reagan becomes second U.S. aircraft carrier ready for MQ-25 Stingray unmanned tanker operations

The MQ-25A Stingray measures 15.54 m long, has a 22.86 m wingspan folding to 9.54 m, and uses a Rolls-Royce AE3700N turbofan engine. Its 6,350 kg fuel-transfer requirement at 926 km represents 8,467 litres at an illustrative density of 0.75 kg per litre, compared with the earlier 6,804 kg objective. One tanker could theoretically distribute 3,175 kg to each of two fighters, 2,117 kg to three, or 1,588 kg to four, excluding differences in receiver demand and refueling time. The unmanned aircraft is intended to replace part of the F/A-18E/F buddy-refueling workload, which requires a centerline refueling store and external tanks holding 1,817 litres each, occupying weapon stations and consuming valuable fighter flight hours. Three MQ-25As delivering 6,350 kg each would transfer 19,050 kg per sortie cycle, increasing to 38,100 kg with two sorties per aircraft.

These figures assume full availability and successful missions, but the concrete number of recovered combat sorties would logically depend on tanker maintenance, carrier deck capacity, and the amount of fuel required by individual fighter missions. The Western Pacific illustrates why the U.S. Navy is investing in refueling capacity beyond the immediate vicinity of its aircraft carriers. Guam, for instance, is located 2,700 km away from Taiwan, while Chinese anti-ship ballistic missiles such as the DF-21D reach more than 1,500 km and the DF-26 reaches 3,000 to 4,000 km. These ranges do not guarantee engagements against moving carriers, which require continuous detection, tracking, targeting updates, and terminal acquisition, but they complicate carrier positioning. Moving a carrier another 200 nautical miles from an operating area adds 400 nautical miles to a fighter's round trip, requiring 53 additional minutes at an illustrative 450-knot transit speed.

An MQ-25 delivering 6,350 kg at 500 nautical miles could consequently support F/A-18E/F, F-35C, and EA-18G missions without requiring the carrier to approach equally close. However, a 3,175 kg transfer does not produce a fixed combat-radius increase, since consumption varies with aircraft payload, altitude, speed, and engine settings. Tanker survivability, rendezvous scheduling, communications reliability, and recovery reserves therefore determine how much additional mission endurance can actually be obtained. China and Türkiye illustrate two different approaches to unmanned naval aviation. China's Fujian aircraft carrier, commissioned in November 2025, uses electromagnetic catapults and arrested recovery equipment, unlike the earlier Liaoning and Shandong, and conducted September 2025 operations involving J-35 fighters, J-15T aircraft, and KJ-600 airborne early warning aircraft.

The KJ-600 introduces fixed-wing airborne radar coverage, while China's GJ-11 unmanned combat aircraft remains a separate development effort without an established operational Fujian detachment. Türkiye instead operates the Bayraktar TB3, a combat drone with a 1,450 kg maximum takeoff weight, 280 kg payload, and endurance exceeding 24 hours, from the TCG Anadolu's ski-jump deck without catapults. On February 14, 2026, the TB3 conducted an autonomous launch and engaged a surface target using two MAM-L guided munitions; on September 22, it released two sonobuoys through its SAS POD during Seawolf-I/2026. The distinction among the U.S. and those two countries is between sustaining heavier carrier-based combat aircraft through aerial refueling and introducing additional surveillance or strike capabilities. 

For its part, Britain's Queen Elizabeth-class carriers operate F-35Bs without catapults or arresting gear, requiring a different approach to unmanned aircraft integration. In October 2026, the United Kingdom announced approximately £240 million for autonomous aviation development associated with the Project Pantheon, including the Project Vanquish, with an embarked demonstration objective targeted for December 2027. Exercise Dragon Rider in August 2026 also tested a modified Wildcat helicopter and unmanned systems exchanging messages, video, and control information across an area exceeding 322 km through mobile ad hoc networks. France ordered five Camcopter S-100F systems and six Airbus VSR700 drones in December 2025 for integration with FREMM frigates and replenishment ships.

The S-100F offers six hours of endurance with a 50 kg payload, while the VSR700 provides up to eight hours with 220 kg. Unlike the U.S. satellite-supported control test, these European programs emphasize smaller drones operating from ships without conventional fixed-wing carrier infrastructure and tactical communications among distributed aircraft. Naval unmanned aviation is increasingly divided between high-capacity unmanned aircraft concentrated aboard conventional carriers and smaller drones distributed across amphibious ships, frigates, support vessels, and shore bases. Japan, for instance, allocated ¥76.5 billion in fiscal year 2026 for four MQ-9B SeaGuardian drones and control equipment, with two units planned for Kanoya Air Base in fiscal year 2027 and Maritime Self-Defense Force operations expected in fiscal year 2028.

The UK is also developing Type 91 unmanned missile vessels, Type 92 sensing vessels, Type 93 extra-large underwater vehicles, and Type 94 airborne-threat sensing systems, while XV Patrick Blackett launched a Nyan One Way Effector in July 2026. The U.S. Navy is pursuing a different allocation of missions, using MQ-25 tankers to release Super Hornets from refueling duties while preparing future integration with F-35C, F/A-XX, and Collaborative Combat Aircraft. Boeing's October 2026 Link 16 experiments using Beechcraft 1900D and King Air E90 aircraft also tested command messaging that could eventually permit fighters to coordinate directly with unmanned aircraft, although operational MQ-25 integration remains incomplete.

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Written by Jérôme Brahy

Jérôme Brahy is a defense analyst and documentalist at Army Recognition. He specializes in naval modernization, aviation, drones, armored vehicles, and artillery, with a focus on strategic developments in the United States, China, Ukraine, Russia, South Korea, Türkiye, and Belgium. His analyses go beyond the facts, providing context, identifying key actors, and explaining why defense news matters on a global scale.