Australia’s Ghost Bat military drone program has reached a significant milestone, with a single operator successfully controlling two of the MQ-28A aircraft during recent trials at the top secret Woomera weapons range.
The trial of Australia’s first domestically designed and built military aircraft in more than 50 years saw operators aboard an E-7A Wedgetail surveillance aircraft direct the two unmanned drones for a “mission against an airborne target”.
The aircraft has been developed by Boeing and the Royal Australian Air Force to fly as a ‘loyal wingman’ alongside crewed aircraft, including the E-7A Wedgetail and F-35 fighter jets.
Defence industry minister Pat Conroy described the demonstration as an “important step forward” that shows Ghost Bat’s potential to “turn a single fighter jet into a fighting team, with advanced sensors that are like hundreds of eyes in the sky”.
“Autonomous collaborative platforms enhance the integrated force’s ability to deliver a strategy of denial, by increasing the lethality and survivability with a reduced risk to our forces,” he said.
Further testing is expected to take place over the coming weeks and months, Mr Conroy told the Australian Financial Review last month, as the government chases export deals for the aircraft.
Among the export opportunities the government is pursuing is the US Air Force’s Collaborative Combat Aircraft program, which aims to deliver 1000 uncrewed, autonomous aircraft.
The government has not ruled out arming the Ghost Bat, despite earlier reports suggesting use of the drone would be limited to intelligence gathering and surveillance roles.
Close to $1 billion has been invested in the Ghost Bat program (previously the Loyal Wingman autonomous aerial vehicle program) since 2017, with the last significant top up last year.
The latest $400 million is being used to secure three working prototypes of a next generation ‘Block Two’ version of the high-tech combat drone, including refining commercial production processes.
Defence plans to spend at least another $4.3 billion over the next decade developing and acquiring uncrewed aerial systems, such as the MQ-28A Ghost Bat, for the Air Force, according to the 2024 National Defence Strategy.
Do you know more? Contact James Riley via Email.