Aerospace giant Boeing will manufacture unmanned aircraft for the US Navy and will be investing $200 million to begin the project at MidAmerica St Louis Airport. The project is expected to add at least 150 jobs on the company’s southwest Illinois campus,.

Boeing will be building the MQ-25 Stingray, the Navy’s first carrier-based unmanned aircraft. The company has been under contract developing and testing the craft since 2018.

The plant has been promised $57 million in state-funded improvements and officials say it also represents a milestone for MidAmerica, which began civilian operations next to Scott Air Force Base in 1997.

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

“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,” Illinois Governor JB Pritzker was quoted by the Associated Press as saying.

“Boeing employs hundreds of Illinoisans and supports thousands of more jobs throughout our state. I’m very proud to have them as a partner in preparing our communities for 21st-century manufacturing,” the governor added.

According to Boeing, the MQ-25 Stingray is a refueling aircraft that will vastly increase the combat range of aircraft launched by 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, the Associated Press reported.

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 and produces components for the CH-47 Chinook helicopter, the F/A-18 Super Hornet fighter aircraft, and other defense equipment.

(With inputs from the Associated Press)