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The Australia-developed MQ-28 Ghost Bat uncrewed combat aircraft has achieved its first international operation in allied airspace, with three operational flights over the Pacific Ocean.
A MQ-28 aircraft reportedly made three operational flights at Point Mugu Sea Range at US Naval Base Ventura County, Point Mugu in California.
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Range safety procedures, certified range assets and coordination with authorities are used to mitigate risk.
The autonomous flights over the Pacific Ocean are designed to help Boeing demonstrate the aircraft’s maturity and export potential by validating autonomous operations, demonstrating rapid deployment and showcasing sustained operations from an allied location.
“The activity at Point Mugu is part of Boeing’s ongoing flight test program to mature the MQ-28 and demonstrate operations from allied locations,” according to MQ-28 global program director Glen Ferguson.
“MQ-28 is using this location to further prove the maturity of the program and inform future exportability.”
MQ-28 is part of a broader Boeing family of systems designed to be modular, affordable and to reduce risk to crewed platforms. Developed by Boeing Australia and supported by the Royal Australian Air Force, the aircraft’s flexible design underpins diverse mission sets and payload integration, enabling customers to tailor capabilities to their requirements, according to the company.
The deployment is the and signals growing global interest in uncrewed autonomous combat capability. The testing is designed to show the MQ-28’s ability to operate seamlessly from allied facilities, which helps Boeing demonstrate the aircraft’s maturity and potential export opportunities to international customers outside Australia.
The Federal Government in this year’s budget pledged a AU$6.1-8.1 billion investment over the next decade to develop and acquire a suite of advanced, low-cost, expendable and uncrewed air systems to complement the crewed fleet.
This includes investments in the MQ-28A Ghost Bat fleet to “multiply lethality and survivability of the crew fleet through sensing, electronic warfare, strike and missile defence capabilities” as well as “exploring opportunities” to integrate future uncrewed systems into the ADF’s force structure.
The government previously flagged a $1.4 billion investment in the program after an MQ-28 deployed an AIM-120 Advanced Medium Range Air-to-Air Missile against an Australian-made Phoenix Jet uncrewed aerial target late last year.
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