The Boeing MQ-28A Ghost Bat collaborative combat aircraft is participating in Exercise Valiant Shield, its first involvement in a major multinational exercise.
New Zealand's 2025 Defense Capability Plan offered perhaps the clearest indication yet that Wellington recognizes the need for greater combat capability.
Partially as a result of their revolutionary nature, interest in CCAs continues to expand, with operators now putting funding into developing their own capabilities in this area.
Boeing Australia expects to have the operational version of its MQ-28 Ghost Bat flying for that nation’s air force by 2028 as it uses momentum there to garner international interest for a later block of the collaborative combat aircraft.
Boeing and the Royal Australian Air Force have conducted the first air-to-air live-fire test of the MQ-28 Ghost Bat, with the CCA firing an AIM-120 Amraam.
Boeing MQ-28 Block 1 Ghost Bats have completed a series of demonstrations to inform an imminent Australian decision on whether to proceed with a follow-on order.
Boeing says it has deployed its MQ-28 collaborative combat aircraft (CCA) for the first time to an operational location, RAAF Tindal AB, where F-35As are based.
With the Boeing E-7A Wedgetail facing a cancellation threat in the U.S., the AEW&C aircraft has demonstrated a new ability to control multiple uncrewed aircraft systems in flight.
The RAAF this year plans to recommend to its government how to move forward on fielding CCAs, with the Boeing MQ-28 Ghost Bat "a very strong contender."
Australia expects to use a series of demos with the Boeing MQ-28 Ghost Bat CCA this year to define its investment plan for such a capability, an official says.
Boeing plans to fire an air-to-air missile from its MQ-28 Ghost Bat uncrewed combat aircraft demonstrator late this year or early next, a company official says.