MQ-25 T1 Stingray Test Aircraft Refuels a Manned F-35 Lightning II

MASCOUTAH, Ill. (Sept. 13, 2021) An unmanned Boeing MQ-25 T1 Stingray test aircraft, left, refuels a manned F-35 Lightning II, Sept. 13, 2021, near Mid-America Airport in Mascoutah, Illinois. This successful flight demonstrated that the MQ-25 Stingray can fulfill its tanker mission using the Navy’s standard probe-and-drogue aerial refueling method. Testing with the unmanned MQ-25 T1 Stingray will continue over the next several months. The MQ-25A Stingray will be the world’s first operational carrier-based unmanned aircraft and provide critical aerial refueling and intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance capabilities that greatly expand the global reach, operational flexibility and lethality of the carrier air wing and carrier strike group. (Video courtesy of Boeing)