Combat drone MQ-28 Ghost Bat: Boeing Australia builds dedicated production facility

In Australia, Boeing Australia is building a new facility to produce the MQ-28 Ghost Bat – a combat drone, i.e. an unmanned combat aerial vehicle (UCAV). According to Australian Defence Minister Richard Marles, the MQ-28 is the first military aircraft in more than 50 years to be designed, engineered and manufactured in the country. 55 Australian companies are involved in the project.

In its report “The Global Military Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAV) Market Forecast 2023-2033”, Global Data expects Australia to launch further such initiatives over the next decade to counter China's growing ambitions for power in the Indo-Pacific. According to the report, the country is likely to spend around 4.7 billion euros on procuring various unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV). High-altitude, long-endurance (HALE) UAVs such as the MQ-28 Ghost Bat could account for up to 51 per cent of this amount.

Aamir Chowdry, aerospace and defence analyst at Global Data, comments: “Australia, together with the US, Japan and India, is part of a security alliance called the Quadrilateral Security Dialogue (Quad). One of the aims of this alliance, as many speculate, is to counter potential threats from China in the Indo-Pacific region. The procurement of advanced platforms such as the MQ-28 Ghost Bat will certainly give the Australian armed forces and their allies an advantage in countering threats and deterring potential conflicts in the region.”

The combat drone as a forerunner of crewed jets

The Ghost Bat can be controlled from crewed aircraft such as the F/A-18F Super Hornet and the EA-18G Growler. This allows it to act as a “forerunner”, advancing well ahead of the crewed aircraft into potentially dangerous conflict zones. The crewed aircraft can therefore often stay outside hostile areas – an added measure of safety for the pilots.