Boeing to build Navy aircraft at MidAmerica, invest $200M

By JOHN O’CONNOR
AP Political Writer

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (AP) — Chicago-based aerospace giant Boeing Co. will invest $200 million to manufacture the U.S. Navy’s latest unmanned aircraft at MidAmerica St. Louis Airport. Officials from the company, local and state government made the announcement Friday at the airfield in Mascoutah, southeast of St. Louis. Boeing plans to manufacture the MQ-25 Stingray, the Navy’s first carrier-based unmanned aircraft. It will come out of a state-of-the art, 300,000-square-foot facility. Construction is scheduled to start later this year and be completed by 2024. The state is providing reductions in the company’s income-tax liability in exchange for the $200 million investment and promise to add at least 150 jobs.