The Australian Government has awarded Boeing Defence Australia an AUD$754 million contract to deliver, develop and support a third tranche of MQ-28 Ghost Bats over the next three years. Under the AIR6015 Autonomous Collaborative Platforms – Air Program, Boeing will deliver additional Block 2 and Block 3 aircraft to support the development of an operational capability by 2028. It will also progress delivery of the capability system and supporting infrastructure for the Royal Australian Air Force to supplement existing crewed fleet with integrated Collaborative Combat Aircraft (CCA).
The Program of Record follows the completion of a successful development program, with eight MQ-28 Ghost Bats and multiple highly capable mission payload modules produced, and a further three Block 2 in final production or testing phases.
“MQ-28 is the most mature CCA program in allied nations, and this latest investment by the Australian Government provides for the development of the next generation of CCA technology and the delivery of an operational capability for Australia,” said Amy List, Boeing Defence Australia managing director. “We’ve already implemented an accelerated capability and successfully proved how the MQ-28 fits into the force mix. This agreement further cements our MQ-28 partnership with the Royal Australian Air Force and Australian industry through to 2028,” List said.
MQ-28 was a first-of-its-kind collaboration between the RAAF, Defence Science and Technology Group and Boeing Australia. The Australian Government has invested over AUD$1 billion to date, with 70% of expenditure contributed to the 200+ Australian industry team.
Meanwhile, Boeing announced that it and the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) have successfully executed a force integrated air-to-air autonomous weapon engagement from an MQ-28 Collaborative Combat Aircraft. The landmark mission involved an MQ-28 Ghost Bat teaming with a RAAF E-7A Wedgetail and F/A-18F Super Hornet to destroy a fighter-class target drone.
“This is the first time an autonomous aircraft has completed an air-to-air weapon engagement with an AIM-120 missile, establishing the MQ-28 as a mature combat capable CCA,” said Amy List, managing director, Boeing Defence Australia. “This latest achievement proves the advantage specialized CCA platforms bring to defence forces’ mission effectiveness, delivering increased operational mass and data exchange for informed decision-making while reducing cost and crewed pilot risk.”
Key mission highlights:
- The MQ-28, E-7A and F/A-18F launched from separate locations.
- Once airborne, an E-7A operator took custodianship of the MQ-28 ensuring safety and engagement oversight.
- The F/A-18F teamed with the MQ-28 in combat formation to provide sensor coverage, and once the Super Hornet identified and tracked the target, targeting data was shared across all three platforms.
- The MQ-28 adjusted its position and received authorization from the E-7A to engage and successfully destroy the target using a Raytheon AIM-120 AMRAAM missile.
“This exercise demonstrates the maturity and sophistication of Boeing’s mission autonomy solution which is built on open standards and government architectures and is capable of integrating with fourth, fifth and sixth generation aircraft,” said Colin Miller, vice president and general manager for Phantom Works, Boeing Defense, Space & Security’s advanced research, development and rapid prototyping division. “It is a true example of speed-to-capability. The team implemented open architectures and an advanced digital ecosystem to develop the necessary hardware, software, and mission systems required to successfully integrate, test and employ the weapon in a live, operationally relevant scenario in under eight months.”
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Excellent! This is a great achievement and starts to really show the possibilities.
Interesting also is the order to develop a new block 3 prototype.
I noticed for this test they used a single pylon mount under the belly (makes sense when testing something new to keep the process as simple as possible).
Makes me wonder if the block 3 development is going to include the hinted at weapons bays for full operational potential.
By my count their up to 17 aircraft now and 1st block 3 will make it 18, what sort of price do you think they looking at per airframe for production, as the development costs divided by airframes would make these very expensive toys.
Question though: another site said the deal was for 1.4 billion you’ve stated $754 million, any ideas why?
The $754 is Boeing’s share. I assume the balance is for things like costs for the RAAF, DSTG etc.
My question reflects on a VTOL ghost Bat for obvious reasons. There has been talk about it, though its feasibility should not be ignored. The possibility in flight refueling certainly is just as important. The further one can strike, the greater the area denial.
At the end of the day it will be numbers that decide what the unit cost will be and how effective a force multiplier this aircraft will be. I have heard no mention at all of how many of these aircraft will eventually be sought. My thinking is that we should look at an ongoing production run to ensure that the builder and supply chains will have steady work.
When in production, an MQ-28 will probably sell in the $10-$15 million range each. Other air forces are looking at a ratio of 2 CCAs for every crewed combat aircraft for most missions.