Uploaded December 2025 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago
The Australian designed and manufactured MQ-28A Ghost Bat has achieved another major milestone, becoming one of the first collaborative combat aircraft (CCA) to successfully engage an aerial target with an air-to-air missile.
The Ghost Bat engaged and destroyed a Phoenix Jet Uncrewed Aerial Target drone with an AIM-120 Advanced Medium Range Air-to-Air Missile, over the Woomera Test Range on 8 December 2025.
This landmark demonstration proves the Ghost Bat is a world-leading CCA capability and underlines the MQ-28A’s growing potential to deliver an operational capability for the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF).
This major advancement is coupled with Government’s announcement on 9 December of approximately $1.4 billion investment to advance airborne Autonomous Collaborative Platform capabilities.
The latest investment includes new contracts with Boeing Defence Australia (BDA) for an additional six operational Block 2 MQ-28A aircraft, and the development of an enhanced Block 3 prototype. This builds upon the Government’s previous investment, which will see the Air Force receive its first three operational Block 2 MQ-28A by the end of 2026, and grow the total fleet to ten by 2030.
The demonstration was a collaborative effort by Boeing Defence Australia, RAAF, Capability Acquisition and Sustainment Group, and Defence Science and Technology Group leveraging the support of foreign stakeholders including U.S. Navy, U.S. Air Force, Air Force Research Laboratory, Raytheon, and other industry partners.
🎥 | SGT David Said
#AusAirForce
The Australian designed and manufactured MQ-28A Ghost Bat has achieved another major milestone, becoming one of the first collaborative combat aircraft (CCA) to successfully engage an aerial target with an air-to-air missile.
The Ghost Bat engaged and destroyed a Phoenix Jet Uncrewed Aerial Target drone with an AIM-120 Advanced Medium Range Air-to-Air Missile, over the Woomera Test Range on 8 December 2025.
This landmark demonstration proves the Ghost Bat is a world-leading CCA capability and underlines the MQ-28A’s growing potential to deliver an operational capability for the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF).
This major advancement is coupled with Government’s announcement on 9 December of approximately $1.4 billion investment to advance airborne Autonomous Collaborative Platform capabilities.
The latest investment includes new contracts with Boeing Defence Australia (BDA) for an additional six operational Block 2 MQ-28A aircraft, and the development of an enhanced Block 3 prototype. This builds upon the Government’s previous investment, which will see the Air Force receive its first three operational Block 2 MQ-28A by the end of 2026, and grow the total fleet to ten by 2030.
The demonstration was a collaborative effort by Boeing Defence Australia, RAAF, Capability Acquisition and Sustainment Group, and Defence Science and Technology Group leveraging the support of foreign stakeholders including U.S. Navy, U.S. Air Force, Air Force Research Laboratory, Raytheon, and other industry partners.
🎥 | SGT David Said
#AusAirForce
