Australia to buy six MQ-28A Ghost Bat combat drones in A$1 billion production deal after missile test

Australia will sign an A$1 billion (US$663m) contract with Boeing Australia to move the MQ-28A Ghost Bat into production, buying an initial six collaborative combat drones. The deal follows tests in which a Ghost Bat-launched air-to-air missile successfully engaged an aerial target, clearing a key weapons-integration hurdle.

Discovered 2025-12-08T03:37:55.137439-08:00 | 2025-12-08T03:37:55.137439-08:00

Briefing

What Hype is tracking

  • The contract formalises a A$1 billion investment and an initial six-unit production buy, signalling the Ghost Bat programme's transition from development to fielding; see context on the MQ-28A Ghost Bat programme.
  • Successful live-fire weapons integration removes a critical technical barrier, accelerating operational testing and sustainment planning for a crewed–uncrewed teaming capability.
  • The move into production aligns with growing demand for collaborative combat aircraft and scalable loyal-wingman buys, following indications of potential large-volume procurements in allied markets (e.g. reported interest in large collaborative combat aircraft purchases) and parallels recent operational deployments of autonomous systems such as the V-BAT deployment to the Pacific.

Reported By

airforce-technology.com The Aviationist Air Data News news.defcros.com edrmagazine.eu miragenews.com
Sources Tracked
14
First Seen
2025-12-08T03:37:55.137439-08:00
Latest Update
2025-12-09T10:22:56.690013-08:00
Coverage
Defense

Sources

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