The Evolution of the MQ-28A Ghost Bat
Royal Australian Air Force moving forward with Boeing Australia testing the MQ-28A Ghost Bat to the limit, as milestone reached.
Article: Jaryd Stock
Images: Ryan Imeson
This week at the Australian International Airshow held at Avalon Airport Boring Australia and the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) have achieved a major milestone in the MQ-28 nicknamed the “Ghost Bat”, flight test program, completing the aircraft types 100th flight.
The first combat capable aircraft to be built in Australia in fifty years, and is currently in production in Melbourne, Australia with 250 local smaller enterprises supporting the production of the Ghost Bat.
Boeing Defense, Space & Security interim President and CEO Steve Parker made the announcement at the Avalon Airshow in Australia saying, “This milestone demonstrates the maturity of our program in a growing market and is a testament to Boeing’s groundbreaking lead in developing collaborative combat aircraft capabilities for current and future applications.”
The flight test program will culminate in a series of demonstrations later this year which will include MQ-28 aircraft teaming with crewed assets, such as E-7 and F-35, to complete operationally relevant missions.
These tests will highlight the validity of the aircraft working in a multi domain battle space, and is expected to highlight to the Australian government the versatility of the Unmanned Flying Vehicle, which will enable the government to make a decision on the funding of the Ghost Bat program towards the end of 2025.
At the airshow APD were given a tour of the MQ-28 Ghost Bat with RAAF Air Commodore (AIRCDRE) Angus Porter, Director General of RAAF Air Combat Capability.
“Its a collaborative program between the RAAF and Boeing Australia and we’ve been conducting the test flights out of Woomera, this aircraft is designed to do the not so nice work by putting them on the front line say in front of our F/A-18F Super Hornet strike aircraft”. Stated AIRCDRE Porter
The aircraft is designed to “fly through the valley of the shadow of death”, what does that mean? Well the aircraft is designed be placed in-front of the strike aircraft during any particular mission set, with the Ghost Bat acting role as an intel collector and information distributer in contested airspace.
That negates the need for any RAAF aviator flying a strike mission to put themselves in a precarious position in a hotly contested battle-space. The aviators can have a measure of confidence that in any situation even when odds are not in their favour, they are confident in carrying out the tasks of their mission because of the role the Ghost Bat offers.
That intelligence gathering and information from the Ghost Bat in a contested air space is then handed on to the Weapon System Officer in the back seat of the Super Hornet, or to a controller onboard the E-7A Wedgetail and that information of hostile forces is then processed into priority.
“There are currently eight Block 1 jets and three Block 2 (aircraft) in production at the moment, so they will be our first three aircraft”, AIRCDRE Porter said.
The next iteration of the Block 2 MQ-28, introduces several enhancements, a new wing design which see modifications have been made to the wing structure, removing the dogtooth feature present in Block 1 aircraft, aiming to improve aerodynamics and performance.
Upgrades to the navigation systems are also included which see a new Global Positioning System (GPS) and Inertial Navigation System (INS) to enhance navigational accuracy and reliability.
Increased Electronic Warfare suite is included in the upgrades which allows the aircraft bolster its defence against electronic warfare attacks and has been implemented to improve operational survivability in contested environments.
“Were testing at the moment with Block 1.4 aircraft and we have the block 2 aircraft in production and we will test those aircraft and take those results to the government to showcase the capability of the aircraft and the place inside the RAAF we believe it fits.”
Under the RAAF’s Project 6015 the Australian Government will make a decision on either to halt or continue the project.
These aircraft cost one tenth of a crewed fighter, and is a capability the airforce sees as something that is evolving in a fast paced environment, with AIRCDRE Porter likening the evolution of the Ghost Bat program to the evolution of the fighter aircraft developed in the 1960’s which led to the century series of fighter aircraft developed during that time period.
AIRCDRE Porter states, “We are now seeing a paradigm shift in technology we have to iterate quicker, we are no longer seeing 40 year iterations of development between F/A-18 to F-35 we are now in decades of changing aircraft.
So what we see today will inevitably change and the version of the Ghost Bat we see today will not be the same version we will operate moving forward into the future, especially during this testing phase.”
Asked wether future iterations of the Ghost Bat will have a weapons bay included in tis design AIRCDRE stated, “Well we are working on find, fix, track, target, engage and asses is the testing we’re doing currently. We’ll look at weapons later, but if we cant find something we cannot engage it, and with the Block 2 aircraft to be tested we want the potential to move forward.
The news of the 100th flight block for the jet showcased the operational paint scheme which is on display at Avalon Airshow for the first time.
Minister for Defence Industry and Capability Pat Conroy on the announcement of the MQ-28 available for export to foreign nations under a new established office.- Calen McDougall
In other news Minister for Defence Industry and Capability Delivery Pat Conroy announced today at Avalon that if the Australian government is to be reelected in the next federal election on May 3rd, products from locally made defence industry companies like the MQ-28A Ghost Bat will be available for export via the Defence Strategic Sales Office which will be established to support foreign countries interested in purchasing the MQ-28A.
“The Australian defence force and the Australian defence industry will now be working together to promote and export our product worldwide, as we look at the Ghost Bat that will be the first thing that we are intent on selling around the world” stated Minister Conroy.
Avalon Airshow runs until Sunday March 30th.
Jaryd Stock is based in Sydney Australia. He has been a die-hard aviation enthusiast from a young age when he was chauffeured around by his father to various airshows and airports around Australia. At his first Airshow he witnessed the awesomeness of a General Dynamics F-111C and immediately fell in love with aviation.
Jaryd picked up a camera at a young age and has never looked back. He now combines photography and writing to highlight “Downunder” aviation; especially U.S. DoD units. Jaryd uses Nikon cameras and lenses.