MQ-28 Ghost Bat Readies For Fighter Demonstration Next Year

SEOUL—The next step for the Boeing MQ-28 Ghost Bat is a flying demonstration next year with the Australian-funded Collaborative Combat Aircraft (CCA) controlled by a fighter for the first time, Boeing executives said on Oct. 20.

“Next year, the next step we plan on doing is pairing it with a combat aircraft—so think, fighter,” Alain Garcia, head of Boeing’s Korea Defense Sector, told reporters during an ADEX 2025 press conference here.

The planned fighter control demonstration comes after a Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) Boeing E-7A Wedgetail controlled a flying MQ-28 during a simulated mission earlier this summer. It also comes as the RAAF has proposed that the MQ-28 Block 2 could enter operational service in 2027, pending a final decision by the Australian national security committee.

Boeing executives declined to identify which fighter will operate the MQ-28. Options include the Boeing F/A-18E/F Super Hornet, Boeing EA-18G Growler and Lockheed Martin F-35. Noting that the MQ-28 design philosophy emphasizes modularity and open architecture systems, Boeing emphasized that it was possible the demonstration could involve a fighter made by a different manufacturer.

Boeing briefed reporters about the MQ-28 at ADEX as part of a wider campaign to attract export orders for the CCA program. The Australian government launched the MQ-28 program in 2017, completed first flight in 2021 and wrapped up flight sciences testing in 2023.

Ahead of the fighter demonstration, the RAAF also plans to launch a Raytheon AIM-120 Amraam at a flying target from an MQ-28 Block 1 by year’s end.