Unmanned combat aircraft for the RAAF: Australia procures MQ-28A Ghost Bat from Boeing

Because rival regional powers are rapidly modernising their militaries and tensions with China are rising, Australia must renew its armed forces comprehensively and across domains (multi-domain). In this context, the country is relying on unmanned combat aircraft: Boeing Defence Australia has now received the contract for the MQ-28A Ghost Bat. The procurement is worth around 860 million euros and is intended to decisively expand the air combat capabilities of the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF).

Australia plans to spend around 5.2 billion euros between 2025 and 2035 on procuring a wide range of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV). This is according to the report “The Global Military Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAV) Market Forecast 2025–2035” by analytics company Global Data. About 38 per cent of this is earmarked for unmanned combat aerial vehicles (UCAVs) – a clear indication of the growing role autonomous systems play in Australian defence planning.

Ghost Bat: from escort aircraft to autonomous weapons carrier

Most recently, the Ghost Bat successfully engaged an aerial target with an AIM-120 AMRAAM air-to-air missile – a further development step towards an autonomous multi-role system that can also have lethal effect. Embedded in the concept of manned-unmanned teaming (MUM-T), the low-observable MQ-28A can identify and engage threats independently, based on on-board artificial intelligence (AI). This puts the Ghost Bat at the centre of future RAAF air operations, especially in high-threat environments.

Tushar Mangure, aerospace and defence analyst at Global Data, puts it this way: “Integrating these UAVs into mixed formations with manned platforms such as the F-35, F/A-18 or E-7 Wedgetail gives the RAAF a form of ‘distributed lethality’. The crews of the manned lead platforms can use the Ghost Bat to carry out missions while reducing the risk to human pilots in contested airspace.”

The modular mission concept of the MQ-28A also provides high operational flexibility. Depending on the task, the system can be configured for air combat, electronic warfare or intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR).

Unmanned combat aircraft as a lever for domestic industry

Beyond the military aspects, the Ghost Bat programme is regarded as a key project for a sovereign Australian defence industry. According to Global Data, about 70 per cent of total programme costs are to benefit Australian companies, namely for technology development, production and building resilient national supply chains. Australia thus wants to depend less on foreign suppliers and create an independent industrial base for defence in the long term.

The USA as a possible customer

Mangure also points to the strategic dimension of cooperation between Australia and the USA: “Since the US strategic reorientation towards the Indo-Pacific, Washington and its allies have been increasing pressure to raise defence spending and procure modern capabilities. As bilateral cooperation deepens, it can be expected that the US armed forces will also adopt the MQ-28A Ghost Bat into their structures.”

This would open up considerable export opportunities for Australia and give the domestic defence industry an additional growth boost.