Boeing tests its MQ-25 drone-teaming software on two stand-in aircraft over Link 16

Boeing says the goal of its Manned Unmanned Teaming software is to let a Super Hornet crew direct the Navy's MQ-25A tanker to a new requirement from their own aircraft when the refueling plan changes halfway through a mission ^[8]. The MQ-25A exists to take tanking work off Super Hornets, so that more of them can fly strike missions ^[9]. The Navy calls the Stingray a key step toward running uncrewed aircraft alongside crewed fighters at sea, including the procedures for doing it ^[10].

"Integrating this software into the MQ-25A will give manned platforms control of aircraft, turning the tanker into a force-multiplier that streamlines refueling operations and expands mission reach," said Kayla Stice, Boeing's MQ-25 Advanced Design program manager ^[17]. Mark Dunn, who leads the MQ-25 avionics integrated product team, said putting the software in the Stingray would enable autonomous coordination with crewed platforms and raise carrier strike group operational tempo ^[18]. In the test itself, two crewed test aircraft exchanged airborne command-and-control messages with each other ^[2].

The design choice is what makes the small test relevant. According to Boeing, the software sends open-architecture command-and-control messages over Link 16, a tactical data network that U.S. and allied forces already use between compatible platforms ^[4]. It is built to support teaming across several aircraft types instead of living inside one airframe ^[5]. Flying it first on two aircraft that are neither the tanker nor the fighter it is meant for ^[2][7] is a modest check of that claim. The team came from Boeing's Phantom Works, MQ-25, F/A-18 and F-22 programs, working with the Navy ^[6]. The F-22 is not on the first-integration list ^[7].

The airframe is further along than the teaming layer. The Navy expects first deliveries from the initial production lot in 2029 ^[12]. That is about three years after the Stingray's first flight as an operational MQ-25A ^[16]. The teaming software is still a separate capability, and it has to pass more flight tests before Boeing can fold it into the tanker's operational software ^[14].

For anyone judging a claim that software works on any aircraft, two axes sort the evidence. One is whether the software has run on an aircraft that will carry it in service. The other is whether it has run on more than one type. The Eglin test puts Boeing's software in the box with more than one type and no service aircraft ^[2][3]. If it lands on just one service aircraft, teaming is a feature of that aircraft. Boeing's claim of airframe independence ^[5] holds up only in the box where two or more service aircraft run the same code. The planned MQ-25A and Super Hornet pair is the first chance to get there ^[7].