Boeing sets drone job at Illinois airport

$200M project to produce new Navy craft to add 150 employees, officials say

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. — Chicago-based aerospace giant Boeing Co. will invest $200 million to begin manufacturing the U.S. Navy’s latest unmanned aircraft at MidAmerica St. Louis Airport in a project that could add at least 150 jobs on the company’s southwest Illinois campus, officials said Friday.

Boeing will build the MQ25 Stingray, the Navy’s first carrier-based unmanned aircraft in a plant of about 300,000 square feet.

The company has been under contract developing and testing the craft since 2018.

Gathered at the airport in Mascoutah, about 29 miles southeast of St. Louis, company representatives and politicians celebrated Boeing’s expansion of operations, which currently employ 70.

With a promise of $57 million in state-funded improvements, they say it also represents a milestone for MidAmerica, which began civilian operations next to Scott Air Force Base in 1997 to critics’ derision about its viability.

“This state-of-the art production facility further roots Boeing’s local presence here in Metro East and it extends Illinois’ legacy of support for our national defense,” Gov. J.B. Pritzker said. “Boeing employs hundreds of Illinoisans and supports thousands more jobs throughout our state. I’m very proud to have them as a partner in preparing our communities for 21st century manufacturing.”

According to Boeing, the MQ-25 Stingray, developed from a 2018 contract with the Navy, is a refueling aircraft that will vastly increase the combat range of aircraft launched from the Navy’s nuclear-powered carriers. “What we’re talking about is taking the carrier’s influence area and doubling it,” said Dave Bujold, Boeing director of MQ-25 programs.

Boeing is receiving breaks worth about $8.7 million on its state income tax liability in exchange for the $200 million investment over 15 years and the addition of at least 150 jobs to the 70 already at MidAmerica, where Boeing set up shop about a decade ago and produces components for the CH-47 Chinook helicopter, the F/A-18 Super Hornet fighter aircraft and other defense equipment.

Construction on the MidAmerica facility is scheduled to start later this year and be completed in early 2024. Production would start by mid-2024.