Boeing vs Northrop Grumman Drones Split between Carrier Production and High-Altitude ISR

Boeing vs Northrop Grumman Drones Lead in Different Places

Boeing has the clearer funded unmanned production program, while Northrop Grumman has the long-running high-altitude and maritime intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR) fleet. Boeing (New York Stock Exchange, NYSE: BA) won a Navy production lot for the MQ-25A Stingray carrier-based refueler on September 15, 2026. Northrop Grumman (NYSE: NOC) builds the RQ-4 Global Hawk, the MQ-4C Triton and the MQ-8 Fire Scout, and it flew its company-funded YFQ-48A on October 6, 2026.

Which group is bigger in military drones depends on the measure. A reader counting funded production points to Boeing's MQ-25. A reader counting installed strategic ISR aircraft points to Northrop Grumman's Global Hawk and Triton lines.

Both groups also build crewed aircraft, and only their drone and autonomous-aircraft work is compared. The F-15, the B-21 Raider and the B-1 and B-2 bombers appear only to show how drones sit inside each group's larger defense business. Commercial airliners and space work are outside that scope.

Company Snapshot

Boeing and Northrop Grumman are both diversified, publicly traded defense primes. The table below sets their drone businesses side by side using only disclosed programs, contract actions and flight milestones.

Boeing's MQ-25, MQ-28 and Insitu Programs

Boeing runs its unmanned work on two tracks: Boeing manages large autonomous aircraft directly, and its Insitu subsidiary oversees smaller tactical and expeditionary unmanned aircraft systems (UAS). The MQ-25 Stingray is a carrier-based unmanned aerial refueling aircraft. The MQ-28 Ghost Bat is a collaborative combat aircraft (CCA), and Boeing lists both on its autonomous and unmanned systems page.

On September 15, 2026, the Navy awarded Boeing a $552,053,000 contract modification through Naval Air Systems Command in Patuxent River, Maryland, Defense News reported. The award covers three low-rate initial production Lot One MQ-25A aircraft. It also pays for long-lead components for three Lot Two aircraft.

The Navy obligated $164,428,480 at award, made up of $100,000,000 in fiscal 2025 funds and $64,428,480 in fiscal 2026 aircraft procurement funds. That obligation equals about 29.8% of the $552,053,000 total. The remaining $387,624,520 was unobligated at award.

Initial Lot One deliveries are slated for 2029. The program of record calls for 67 operational aircraft and nine test aircraft, or 76 in total. The first lot of three aircraft covers about 4% of that planned fleet.

No contract value or delivery schedule for the MQ-28 Ghost Bat appears in the disclosures this page draws from. That gap means the MQ-28 cannot be weighed against the MQ-25 on funding here.

Through Insitu, Boeing sells the ScanEagle, Integrator, Integrator Extended Range, Integrator VTOL (vertical take-off and landing) and RQ-21A Blackjack, listed on Insitu's products page. In tactical and small UAS, Insitu competes with AeroVironment and Elbit Systems.

Boeing also has the Orca XLUUV. The Orca is a non-aerial system, so it belongs in a separate count from Boeing-built aircraft and from Insitu's UAS.

Northrop Grumman's Global Hawk, Triton and YFQ-48A Programs

Northrop Grumman's unmanned portfolio centers on high-altitude ISR and maritime aircraft with long procurement and sustainment cycles. Its lineup includes the RQ-4 Global Hawk, MQ-4C Triton, RQ-4D Phoenix, MQ-8B and MQ-8C Fire Scout, Fire-X, and the X-47B unmanned combat air system (UCAS) demonstrator. Northrop Grumman describes these aircraft on its airborne ISR page and its military aviation systems page.

Fire Scout is a ship-based VTOL unmanned aircraft built on a full-size helicopter platform for tactical naval ISR. It gives Northrop Grumman a shipboard line alongside its high-altitude Global Hawk and Triton fleets.

On October 6, 2026, Defense News reported that the YFQ-48A, nicknamed Talon Blue, completed its first flight without a human pilot in Mojave, California. The aircraft handled taxi, takeoff, in-flight maneuvers and landing on its own. Northrop Grumman funded the development itself under Project Talon, which focuses on lower part counts and faster manufacturing.

The YFQ-48A flight came with no U.S. Air Force hardware production contract. Northrop Grumman competes for mission autonomy software selection in summer 2027.

On September 15, 2026, a Northrop Grumman-built RQ-4B Block 30i Global Hawk crashed in the Sea of Japan, Defense News reported. The loss cut Japan's fleet from three aircraft to two, a one-third reduction. No cause was disclosed, and there were no casualties.

Northrop Grumman's unmanned revenue is concentrated in large U.S. government programs and a limited group of major allied customers. Cancellation of a flagship program would have an outsized effect on that revenue.

Where Boeing and Northrop Grumman Compete Directly

Boeing and Northrop Grumman compete in large carrier-based and collaborative combat drones. For aircraft such as the MQ-25 and MQ-28, Boeing's main competitors include Northrop Grumman and Lockheed Martin; see the site's Boeing vs Lockheed Martin comparison. Northrop Grumman primarily loses drone contracts to other major defense primes with established large-UAS portfolios.

Neither group won the Air Force CCA production awards. In June 2026, CCA Increment 1 production awards went to Anduril and General Atomics. The site's General Atomics vs Northrop Grumman comparison covers one of those winners against Northrop Grumman.

Neither award went to Northrop Grumman, so the YFQ-48A remains a company-funded aircraft without an Air Force production award. No disclosed production award for the MQ-28 appears in the record either. The site's collaborative combat aircraft guide covers the wider program.

Below the large-drone tier, the two groups share a rival. Insitu competes with AeroVironment in tactical and small UAS. For Northrop Grumman, competition for smaller tactical or lower-cost ISR platforms also shifts to AeroVironment.

How Drones Sit Inside Boeing and Northrop Grumman Revenue

Neither Boeing nor Northrop Grumman reports drone revenue as its own segment in the figures this comparison uses. Each group's drone business sits next to crewed aircraft work, and Boeing's also sits next to missile work.

In August 2026, the Air Force awarded Boeing a sole-source indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity (IDIQ) contract with a $131.23 billion ceiling to produce, modernize and sustain F-15 fighters through 2037, Defense News reported. Only $343,740 in fiscal 2026 research and development funds was obligated at award, and no initial aircraft order was included.

At award, the MQ-25A modification carried $164,428,480 in obligated funds against the F-15 contract's $343,740.

Also in August 2026, the Department of War signed a seven-year framework agreement with Boeing and RTX to expand production of Standard Missile-3 (SM-3) Block IB and Block IIA components. Boeing supplies ejector-assembly hardware into RTX's Raytheon-built interceptor. The framework agreement carries no disclosed dollar figure and does not guarantee order volume.

Boeing spreads its unmanned exposure across multiple segments. Drone wins are less visible in Boeing's financial results than at specialist UAS firms, and harder to isolate in its public filings.

On July 21, 2026, Northrop Grumman reported second-quarter 2026 sales of $10.9 billion, up 5% year over year. Net awards for the quarter were $20 billion, a book-to-bill ratio of 1.84. Total backlog reached a record $105 billion, up 17% from a year earlier.

Northrop Grumman's Form 10-Q separates funded orders from unexercised options inside that backlog.

On September 17, 2026, the Air Force said it will extend service of the B-1 Lancer and B-2 Spirit, Defense News reported. Northrop Grumman is scheduled to deliver the first of at least 100 planned B-21 Raider bombers to Ellsworth Air Force Base in 2027. That plan is a stated fleet intention without an executed production contract, and the bombers are crewed aircraft.

Sell-side factor screens periodically label Northrop Grumman stock as "value". That label compares the stock with its own price at a point in time. It says nothing about how durable Northrop Grumman's unmanned programs are.

Who This Comparison Is Not For

A reader who wants a buy or sell call, price targets or valuation multiples will find none of them on this page. Share prices and market capitalizations for Boeing and Northrop Grumman belong in a brokerage feed and each group's filings.

A reader comparing commercial airliners or space programs needs a different source, because both businesses fall outside this drone-focused comparison. See also the site's Boeing vs Airbus comparison.

A reader seeking pure-play drone exposure should start at the site's drone stocks hub. Northrop Grumman's unmanned systems are strategic programs inside a broad portfolio, unlike small-drone pure-plays such as AeroVironment or Red Cat. Boeing's drone exposure is spread across segments. A reader weighing other names against Northrop Grumman can use the site's Northrop Grumman alternatives page.

What Would Change This Comparison

Five developments would change this comparison.

A funded Air Force or Navy production award for the YFQ-48A would give Northrop Grumman a disclosed collaborative combat aircraft contract to set against Boeing's MQ-25 lot. A disclosed production contract for the MQ-28 Ghost Bat would add a second funded Boeing drone program with a checkable dollar figure.

A disclosed Triton or Global Hawk follow-on order would put a fresh number on Northrop Grumman's installed ISR line. A slip in MQ-25 Lot One deliveries past 2029 would weaken Boeing's funded-production lead. Either group breaking out drone revenue as its own segment would replace this qualitative comparison with a direct one.

How to Use This Comparison

The programs and contract actions here come from named reports. Confirm the dollar figures in primary documents. Boeing's drone exposure and Northrop Grumman's drone exposure both sit inside segment totals, so the filings and contract notices carry the figures this page cannot.

For a wider set of names, the site's defense contractor stocks list and its Lockheed Martin vs Northrop Grumman stock comparison add peers beyond these two primes.

Start the Boeing vs Northrop Grumman research by reading each group's latest Form 10-K, then search the Department of War contract announcements page for new MQ-25, MQ-28, Triton, Global Hawk and YFQ-48A awards.