The rapid military modernisation undertaken by competing regional powers, along with rising tensions with China, has compelled Australia to pursue multi-domain military modernisation to strengthen its defence posture. The $930 million MQ-28A Ghost Bat UAV procurement contract awarded to Boeing Defence Australia in December 2025 aims to responds to these challenges by enabling the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) to field more unmanned assets to safeguard Australia’s interests, says GlobalData, a data and analytics company.
According to GlobalData’s report, “The Global Military Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAV) Market Forecast 2025-2035“, Australia is anticipated to spend approximately $5.6 billion for the procurement of various types of UAVs from 2025 to 2035. It is projected that approximately 38% of this outlay will be directed towards the acquisition of combat UAVs.
The Ghost Bat’s recent successful engagement of an aerial target using an AIM-120 air-to-air missile has validated the platform’s evolution into a lethal, autonomous, multirole system. As part of its Manned-Unmanned Teaming (MUM-T) role, the low-observable Ghost Bat UAV can execute threat detection and neutralisation of targets in autonomous mode using onboard artificial intelligence (AI), making it a formidable aerial platform.
Tushar Mangure, Aerospace & Defense Analyst at GlobalData, comments: “The integration of these UAVs alongside flying formation of manned assets such as the F-35, F/A-18, and E-7 aircraft will provide the RAAF with “distributed lethality”. This will enable the operators on the mothership to deploy the Ghost Bat UAV to execute missions while reducing risks to human pilots in contested airspace. Due to its modular mission package system, the UAV offers users superior operational flexibility. It can be configured to perform various roles, including combat, ISR, and electronic warfare, based on situational requirements.”
In addition to its operational implications, the Ghost Bat UAV program is a testament to the Australian government’s intent to develop and scale the local defense manufacturing ecosystem. Approximately 70% of total program expenditure is expected to be allocated to local firms for technology development, production, and the establishment of resilient domestic supply chains that are critical to enabling indigenous defense manufacturing.
Tushar concludes: “Since the US pivoted toward the Indo-Pacific to counter China’s growing influence, Washington has been pressing regional allies such as Australia to boost defence spending, acquire advanced military capabilities, and maintain high levels of readiness. As the two countries deepen their defense cooperation to pursue shared strategic objectives, the US is expected to induct the MQ-28A Ghost Bat into its own forces. Such a move would create significant export opportunities for Australia and deliver a major boost to its domestic defence manufacturing base.”
For Editorial Inquiries Contact:
Editor Kym Bergmann at kym.bergmann@venturamedia.net
For Advertising Inquiries Contact:
Group Sales Director Simon Hadfield at simon.hadfield@venturamedia.net
With the current minister for Defence, sorry Deputy Prime Minister .It’s more likely that the U.S. will take over production and we’ll be obliged to buy them off Boeing U.S.A.
To be honest I wish we could have been dealing with an Australian Startup rather than Boeing. Playing Devil’s Advocate though I would have to concede we probably couldn’t have done this without Boeing’s decades of experience.
As the USAF has evaluated the GhostBat & have decided on a longer ranges UAV, I can’t see any economies of scale to be had by manufacturing this aircraft in the US.
With the experience australia is gaining we should design and build a modern F-111 replacement based on the ghostbat the fb-22 raptor and the Yf-23 black widow.
Absolutely 💯 yes with stealth capable, or we should join japan UK Italy in co development of GCAP
I agree.