Two carriers will get the MQ-25A Stingray unmanned tanker by 2019

The Navy announced this week that the carriers George H.W. Bush and Dwight D. Eisenhower will be the first in the Navy's fleet to field the MQ-25A Stingray unmanned aerial refueling system, reports USNI News.

The selected carriers will receive upgrades including control stations and data links needed to control the tanker. Sources told USNI News that Chief of Naval Operations Adm. John Richardson hopes to have it on carrier decks as early as 2019.

The implementation of the Stingray would ease the burden on the Boeing F/A-18E/F Super Hornet, which currently acts as the carrier air wing's refueling aircraft.

The Navy will release the request for proposals to General Atomics, Lockheed Martin, Boeing, and Northrop Grumman this year. 

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