The production of the first MQ-28 Block 2 aircraft progresses ahead of the first flight later this year, while testing of the Block 1 continues both in Australia, at the Woomera Range Complex, and in the United States, reportedly at the Tonopah Test Range.
Saab recently announced that it will supply, through its Saab Australia subdivision, its TactiCall secure communications system to the MQ-28 Ghost Bat uncrewed aircraft developed by Boeing Australia. The company will also provide avionics equipment, including electro-mechanical actuators and controllers for the Primary Flight Control System from Saab in Sweden.
“The Ghost Bat is an exciting program for the Australian defence sector and demonstrates what can be achieved through collaboration between global defence organisations, local businesses, and the Defence Force,” said Andy Keough, Saab Australia’s managing director. “We are excited to be part of the Boeing-led team for the MQ-28 program, supplying our TactiCall Communications Solution, which integrates all communications technologies into one intuitive user interface to enable information to be securely monitored and shared across multiple classification levels.”
The MQ-28 Ghost Bat, previously known as the Boeing Airpower Teaming System, is the first Australian-produced military combat aircraft in over 50 years, currently being tested by both the Royal Australian Air Force and the U.S. Air Force to team up with manned fighters. Saab now joins over 200 other companies involved in the MQ-28 program.
“We have been very focused on providing opportunities for Australian companies, increasing the number specifically engaged on the development of the platform from 55 to 74 over the past 12 months. As we evolve a truly global capability, we are also incorporating Saab’s flight-proven electromechanical actuation equipment to enable us to work at speed to accelerate our ability to meet operational requirements,” said Glen Ferguson, Boeing MQ-28 global program director.
The TactiCall Integrated Communication Solutions interconnect all communications technologies regardless of radio band, frequency and hardware, says Saab, and is intended to minimize effort, reduce risk and increase operational speed. The system, which includes user terminals, network, and radio infrastructure, is considered a highly survivable system, and enables voice and data communication to be controlled from a single user interface.
TactiCall also offers a Secure Communication solution, which allows information to be monitored and shared within multi-level security, says the company, which can operate within the naval, aviation, maritime, energy and civil sectors.
The MQ-28 Ghost Bat – Boeing Airpower Teaming System
Designed by Boeing Defence Australia for the RAAF as a multirole system capable of operating together with crewed aircraft, the Ghost Bat was initially known as the Boeing Airpower Teaming System (ATS). The development started in 2013, with the prototype unveiled for the first time during the 2019 edition of the Australian Airshow and the maiden flight on Feb. 27, 2021 at the Woomera Range Complex in Southern Australia.
The multirole unmanned platform has a 1.5 cubic meter nose that can hold interchangeable payloads for ISR (Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance), aerial radar surveillance, EW/ELINT sensors and other attack munitions. The aircraft has been described as a next-generation Loyal Wingman, whose development involved 55 Australian companies and, as of Feb. 2024, had received $600 million in funding.
According to Boeing, the Ghost Bat employs “AI (Artificial Intelligence) to work as a smart team with existing military aircraft to complement and extend airborne missions.” The size of a small, light-weight class fighter, with side air intakes, cranked-kite wings and canted V-tails, the MQ-28 can fly for nearly 3,200 km and “fly independently” with its AI.
Renders from Boeing have shown the Ghost Bat flying with support and special mission aircraft like the E-7A Wedgetail AEW&C aircraft and the F-15EX. According to Ferguson, “during a typical mission, a launch and recovery operator […] would oversee the aircraft as it takes flight.”
“It would then be handed off to a crewed aircraft, such as an E-7A, F-35A or F/A-18F, whose crew tasks it to perform, for example, an intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance mission,” added Ferguson while explaining the concept of operations. The MUM-T (Manned Unmanned Teaming) might not necessarily take place in close formation, but it could work even with the aircraft very far apart over dozens of kilometers, depending on mission requirements.
The heavily stealth-oriented design has also been shown in renderings with three different nose sections, with one integrating an IRST (Infrared Search and Track) sensor. Based on their appearance, the other two could possibly be meant for ISR and EW/ELINT roles, the latter involving locating, jamming or overwhelming adversary ground radars.
The MQ-28 could also serve in an escort role for high-value support assets like the E-7A AEW&C aircraft or KC-30 aerial refuelers. It is however not known if the unmanned aircraft is viewed as an attritable system used for enhancing manned platforms’ survivability. Following the mission’s completion, “the aircraft would be handed back to the launch and recovery operator to oversee landing, deceleration and complete stop of the vehicle,” Ferguson said.
Testing continues
“We have made significant progress in the last two years to mature the Ghost Bat capabilities, and we are working towards being able to deliver an operational capability to the Royal Australian Air Force in the next few years,” a Boeing Australia spokesperson said. “MQ-28 was conceived, produced and tested at record speed, and recently Boeing and RAAF marked more than 100 hours of flight testing and 20,000 hours in the digital environment.”
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Specifically, according to Flight Global, over the last 12-18 months the focus has been on testing mission systems, with an emphasis on Electronic Warfare (EW) and Intelligence, Surveillance And Reconnaissance (ISR), quoting Ferguson. “The mission system is probably more important than the airframe,” he said. “In many ways, the airframe becomes the vehicle within which we get the mission system to the fight.”
Saab further added that the program recently completed teaming flights with several aircraft, performing what it has defined as mission scenarios, possibly referring to single tasks as part of the larger mission sets mentioned earlier. The aircraft also shared information with each other while airborne. These flights were performed at Australia’s Woomera test range approximately one out of every three months, with the aircraft flying one to three sorties daily, including some flights at night.
In June 2024, the first RAAF pilot, Wing Commander Phil Parsons, flew the aircraft from its ground control station. Parsons, an experienced remote systems pilot for the past 10 years, concluded his training program and became the first non-Boeing pilot on the program. As a launch and recovery operator, Parsons would oversee the MQ-28A’s ground preparation, take-off and landing operations.
In fact, while it has autonomous capabilities, the MQ-28 is still overseen by a human operator. “MQ-28A is designed to team with piloted aircraft through an ‘operator-in-the-loop’ approach,” said Ferguson. The presence of a human operator adds another layer of safety to the operations.
The MQ-28 Block 2
In February 2024, the Australian government has announced $259.5 million in funding to further develop key systems for the Boeing MQ-28A and build three new aircraft in the Block 2 configuration. The Block 2 will have an enhanced design and improved capabilities, with the funding supporting also additional critical sensors and mission payloads.
Eight Block 1 Ghost Bats have already been manufactured to date, while the Block 2s are expected to be ready by the end of 2025, when they will participate in a critical capability demonstration exercise. The first Block 2 MQ-28 is already in production at Boeing’s Melbourne facility, said Flight Global quoting Ferguson, with ground tests and a first flight expected later this year.
The Block 2 will not have major airframe changes from the Block 1, with the main external change being the removal of the Block 1’s dogtooth wing, while internally the aircraft will get changes that will improve maintainability. Block 2 will also get a new Global Positioning System (GPS)/Inertial Navigation System (INS). The Block 1 aircraft will be retired once the Block 2s are ready.
Australia’s minister for defense industry, Pat Conroy, said that one objective for the program, following the demonstration phase in 2025, will be the ability to produce MQ-28As at 10% of the cost of an aircraft such as the F-35A.
The MQ-28 and the Collaborative Combat Aircraft program
Since 2023, the U.S. Air Force has been looking at the MQ-28 for the Collaborative Combat Aircraft program and one of the prototypes was reported to have been moved to the United States. Boeing later confirmed this by releasing a photo of the MQ-28 together with the MQ-25 Stingray at MidAmerica Airport in St. Louis, Missouri.
The details about the MQ-28 involvement in the CCA program since then have been very scant. However, the Asia Pacific Defence Reporter mentioned, in its Dec-Jan 2025 issue, “it has been reported that, as part of the CCA agreement, two of Boeing’s ATS [MQ-28] air vehicles have been sent to the US for evaluation and have flown from the remote and secretive Tonopah Test Range in Nevada.”
The publication further adds that “these aircraft may go to form the basis of Boeing’s bid for the second phase of the USAF’s CCA program.” Boeing said that it provided another proprietary solution for the Increment 1 CCAs instead of the MQ-28, but did not provide details about the intentions for Increment 2.
According to Aviation Week, last year the U.S. Navy also sent a team to Australia to train on the MQ-28. The service is currently in the early stages of determining the requirements and timelines for its own Collaborative Combat Aircraft, and the work with the Ghost Bat will help inform future decisions.
