Australia has expanded its investment in autonomous airpower by awarding Boeing Defence Australia a 1.4-billion Australian dollar ($930-million) contract to deliver six additional MQ-28 Ghost Bat Collaborative Combat Aircraft. The agreement transitions the homegrown system from its initial technology demonstration phase toward full operational capability for the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF). The announcement follows the Ghost Bat’s successful first live-fire test, where the aircraft launched an AIM-120 AMRAAM against an airborne target.
Under the new contract, Boeing will supply six Block 2 Ghost Bats and develop an improved Block 3 prototype over the next three years. These efforts support Australia’s goal of achieving Ghost Bat operational capability by 2028. The deal also introduces several system upgrades, including a newly integrated internal weapons bay to expand the drone’s mission flexibility and strike potential. Australia currently operates eight Block 1 and three Block 2 aircraft.
The MQ-28 program forms part of a wider 10-billion Australian dollar investment in advanced drone systems over the next decade, with at least 4.3 billion Australian dollars earmarked for uncrewed aerial systems alone. The growing Ghost Bat industrial effort supports more than 440 high-skilled engineering and manufacturing jobs across the country, reinforcing Australia’s ambition to build a sovereign autonomous aircraft capability.
Designed as a collaborative combat platform, the Ghost Bat enhances fighter survivability by providing advanced sensing, targeting, and electronic warfare capabilities. The aircraft features a modular, reconfigurable nose that allows rapid swapping of mission payloads such as AESA radar, electro-optical sensors, SIGINT packages, and electronic attack systems. At 38 feet long, the drone offers a range exceeding 2,000 nautical miles while costing roughly one-tenth of a traditional crewed fighter, making it one of the most cost-effective force multipliers in development today.
