Billion dollar injection to get Ghost Bat drones ready for war

An Australian-made lethal drone, powered by artificial intelligence, could soon become a “fully operational war fighting” asset for the Australian military, as the government pumps a further billion dollars into the Ghost Bat program.

On Tuesday the Albanese government is expected to unveil additional funding and contracts to acquire a further six MQ-28A aircraft from Boeing. The drones are designed to accompany traditional manned aircraft into battle.

The West Australian understands the Government will say the delivery of the additional Ghost Bats will lay the foundation for the device to become an operational air combat platform capability within the Royal Australian Air Force.

The MQ-28 Ghost Bat, unveiled in 2019 as the ‘Loyal Wingman’, is the first military combat aircraft to be designed, engineered and manufactured in Australia in more than 50 years.

Since that time federal governments have committed more than $2.34 billion into helping Boeing develop the multi-role, unmanned aircraft as a future RAAF frontline platform.

Known as a collaborative combat aircraft, the Ghost Bat is packed with advanced sensors and is designed to team with other manned aircraft, such as the F-35 and Super Hornet, with the potential to turn a single fighter jet into a fighting force.

Measuring 11.7m in length and able to fly at high subsonic speeds, the jet-powered drone has a greater range and endurance than manned combat aircraft and is on-track to conduct its first live-fire weapons shot this month.

During a visit to the remote Woomera test range in September to observe the MQ-28, Defence Industry Minister Pat Conroy described the technology as “the cutting edge of air power” and “the cutting edge of the Australian defence industry”.

“This platform is hitting every major milestone, and I’m pleased to announce today that it has successfully completed all of its scheduled test activities for 2025,” he said.

Already 10 of the aircraft have been built in Block I and II configurations for testing.

More than 130 flights totalling 150 hours have been conducted, along with 20,000 hours of simulated missions used to verify and confirm the Ghost Bat’s flight data.