Featured image: Boeing MQ-28 Ghost Bat at the 2023 Avalon Airshow. Photo by HoHo3143, CC BY-SA 4.0 via Wikimedia Commons.
The Boeing MQ-28 Ghost Bat is not a concept aircraft anymore. In December 2025, it fired a live AIM-120 AMRAAM missile and destroyed an airborne target, becoming the second unmanned combat aircraft in the world to achieve a beyond-visual-range air-to-air kill. That test alone marks a turning point for autonomous aerial warfare. But the bigger story is what came next: a massive funding injection from the Australian Government, Block 3 upgrades with internal weapons bays and longer wings, and a growing list of countries queuing up to buy.
If Australia’s defence sovereign capability strategy needed a poster child, the Ghost Bat has earned it.
What Is the MQ-28 Ghost Bat?
The MQ-28 Ghost Bat, previously known as the Airpower Teaming System (ATS), is a stealth multirole unmanned combat aerial vehicle developed by Boeing Australia for the Royal Australian Air Force. It is designed as a Collaborative Combat Aircraft (CCA), meaning its primary role is to fly alongside crewed fighters like the F-35A and F/A-18F Super Hornet, acting as a force multiplier.
Think of it as a loyal wingman in the literal sense. The MQ-28 flies formation with manned aircraft, shares sensor data, conducts reconnaissance, and now, carries weapons. When operating independently, its AI-driven autonomy allows it to plan and execute missions with only high-level commands from a human operator.
The name fits. The ghost bat is an Australian native species known for hunting in coordinated packs, using echolocation to track targets. The drone’s sensor fusion and telemetry-sharing capabilities work on the same principle, just with radar and datalinks instead of sonar.
Technical Specifications
| Specification | Details |
|---|---|
| Length | 11.8 m (38.7 ft) |
| Wingspan | 6 m (Block 1/2), 7.3 m (Block 3) |
| Max speed | Mach 0.9 (subsonic, no afterburner) |
| Operating ceiling | 40,000 ft |
| G tolerance | Up to 4g |
| Engine | Turbofan (model classified) |
| Payload | Modular swappable mission nose, weapons hardpoints |
| Range | Classified (Block 3 targets extended range for Pacific operations) |
The aircraft is approximately the size of a Douglas A-4 Skyhawk. It lacks an afterburner, which keeps its top speed at just below Mach 1, but speed is not the point. The Ghost Bat is designed for endurance, sensor range, and survivability through stealth shaping and smart mission planning, not dogfighting.
The December 2025 Live-Fire Test: Trial Kareela
The milestone event happened during Trial Kareela 25-4 at RAAF Base Woomera in South Australia. Here is how it unfolded:
An MQ-28 Ghost Bat took off from a separate location than the crewed aircraft supporting it. Once airborne, it was handed to an operator aboard an E-7A Wedgetail airborne early warning and control aircraft. An F/A-18F Super Hornet flew alongside the MQ-28 in combat formation, providing sensor coverage.
The Super Hornet identified and tracked a Phoenix jet-powered target drone. Targeting data was shared across all three platforms. The MQ-28 adjusted its intercept course, received authorization from the E-7A to engage, and fired a live Raytheon AIM-120 AMRAAM. The missile hit. Target destroyed.
According to Boeing, the MQ-28 required only four major commands from its operator during the entire engagement:
- Take off
- Establish a combat air patrol orbit
- Intercept the designated target
- Arm and release the weapon
Everything else, nav, sensor handoff, terminal guidance communication with the AMRAAM, the MQ-28 handled autonomously.
Only four commands. That is the whole point of a collaborative combat aircraft. A single remote pilot, or even a crew in a crewed fighter, can task multiple Ghost Bats to execute complex tactical sequences without micromanaging every control input.
Block 2: Now in Production
The eight Block 1 Ghost Bats are pre-production developmental test aircraft. They have collectively logged over 100 test flights and more than 100 hours of flight time since the first flight in February 2021.
Block 2 is the operational test variant and is now in production. The Australian Government committed an additional A$400 million in February 2024 for three Block 2 aircraft, followed by another A$1.4 billion in December 2025 for six more Block 2 airframes. That brings the total government investment to over A$2 billion.
Block 2 upgrades include:
- Redesigned wing for improved aerodynamics
- New GPS/INS navigation system
- Upgraded sensors, including IRST (Infrared Search and Track) fitted to the nose of at least two Block 2 prototypes
- Improved autonomous system and mission computer
- Enhanced combat system architecture
These Block 2 aircraft form the basis of the Ghost Bat’s initial operational capability for the RAAF, expected around 2028.
Block 3: Internal Weapons Bays and Longer Wings
Block 3 is where the Ghost Bat transforms from a test and evaluation platform into a serious combat asset. Boeing confirmed at the 2026 Singapore Airshow that Block 3 will feature:
Internal weapons bay. The bay will accommodate one AIM-120 AMRAAM, two GBU-39/B Small Diameter Bombs, or equivalent munitions by size. Program director Glen Ferguson noted the open architecture means customers could integrate virtually any weapon without needing Boeing’s involvement for every integration.
Larger wings. Wingspan increases from 6 m to 7.3 m, delivering approximately 30 percent more fuel capacity. The Pacific theatre demands range, and the bigger wing directly addresses that operational requirement.
New sensor payloads. Boeing is developing three or four alternative mission nose payloads for Block 3, though Ferguson declined to specify what those sensors are. The swappable nose design is one of the Ghost Bat’s signature features, allowing rapid reconfiguration for different mission profiles.
Block 1 and Block 2 aircraft were designed with the structural space to accommodate an internal weapons bay, meaning retrofit is possible if the RAAF chooses to go that route.
Who Else Wants This Drone?
A lot of people. Boeing has confirmed active conversations with multiple potential customers.
Japan. An Australia-Japan bilateral defence ministers agreement was signed in September 2025 to collaborate on the MQ-28 program. Japan is the only named potential export customer at this stage.
Germany. In March 2026, Rheinmetall and Boeing Australia formalised a partnership to offer the MQ-28 to the Bundeswehr. Germany is evaluating three competing CCA platforms, the MQ-28 Ghost Bat, the XQ-58A Valkyrie (Airbus and Kratos), and the CA-1 Europa (Helsing and Grob).
United States. The Pentagon acquired at least one MQ-28 in 2022 for testing. The US Navy has deployed a test and evaluation squadron to Australia to work on the aircraft, and an MQ-28 has operated from NAS Point Mugu in California. Both the USAF and USN have expressed strong interest.
United Kingdom. Both the RAF and Royal Navy are listed as possible operators, though no formal acquisition has been confirmed.
Southeast Asia. Ferguson was blunt at the Singapore Airshow: the appetite for CCA capability in the region is immense. He warned that countries who have not started planning for collaborative combat aircraft risk falling three to four years behind.
Built in Australia, Controlled from Anywhere
The MQ-28 is the first combat aircraft designed and developed in Australia in over half a century. All Block 1 and Block 2 manufacturing takes place at Boeing Aerostructures Australia in Melbourne. A new 9,000 square-metre production facility is under construction at the Wellcamp Aerospace and Defence Precinct near Toowoomba, Queensland, in partnership with Wagner Corporation.
Boeing has been clear that the Ghost Bat will remain a sovereign Australian program. Aircraft will only be produced in Australia. Export customers receive the core airframe and system architecture, but each nation adapts its own autonomous behaviours, sensors, and weapons without needing Boeing-level integration work. That sovereignty angle is a major selling point for allied governments.
Ghost Bat vs. The Competition
The MQ-28 faces several competitors in the CCA space. The most direct comparison is the Kratos XQ-58A Valkyrie, which is larger, faster (Mach 0.9+), and has been tested extensively by the US Air Force under the Skyborg and Collaborative Combat Aircraft programs. Turkey’s Bayraktar Kızılelma achieved a BVR air-to-air missile kill before the Ghost Bat, using a domestically produced missile.
The Ghost Bat’s advantages are its modular nose system, proven flight test record of over 100 sorties, mature autonomous architecture validated by live-fire, and sovereign manufacturing that appeals to allied nations wary of relying entirely on US production lines.
The Valkyrie’s advantages are lower unit cost (Kratos has long pitched it as an attritable platform at roughly US$3-4 million per unit) and earlier integration with US Air Force and Navy test programs. Australia has not disclosed the per-unit Ghost Bat cost, though the total A$2 billion+ program investment across roughly 17 aircraft suggests a far higher price point. Whether that premium is justified depends on how nations value sovereign production and the Ghost Bat’s more refined autonomy stack.
What Comes Next
The RAAF’s planned 2028 introduction into service seems ambitious but not unrealistic given the program’s track record. Block 2 aircraft are flying now. Block 3 development is underway. The weapons test validated the combat architecture. The remaining work is scale, training, and formal operational certification.
For anyone tracking military drone technology, the MQ-28 Ghost Bat is the aircraft to watch. Australia is not just buying into the CCA concept. It is building one, testing it in live-fire scenarios, and preparing to sell it to allies. That puts Australia in an exclusive club alongside the United States and Turkey as nations with demonstrated autonomous combat drone weapons capability.
The next milestone to watch: Block 3 first flight and the first export contract. Both are likely in 2026.