Boeing Reveals MQ-28 Ghost Bat Combat Drone With Internal AMRAAM Missiles and BLOS Control
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Boeing Defence Australia has unveiled an upgraded MQ-28 Ghost Bat uncrewed combat aircraft with a larger wing, higher payload capacity, internal weapon stations, and beyond-line-of-sight control, presenting the design at ILA Berlin on June 10, 2026, as allied air forces look for survivable combat mass alongside crewed fighters. The configuration gives countries such as Germany a lower-risk way to push sensors and weapons closer to contested airspace while keeping pilots outside the first layer of enemy air defenses.
The improved MQ-28 is being offered as a reduced-signature combat aircraft able to carry air-to-air missiles or precision bombs and operate under control from fighters, airborne early warning aircraft, ground stations, or naval command nodes. Boeing’s German industry team with Rheinmetall, Diehl Defence and Rohde & Schwarz points to a broader push to adapt autonomous combat aircraft for European requirements before a possible Luftwaffe fielding decision in 2029.
Related topic: Boeing MQ-28 Ghost Bat Stealth Combat Drone Passes Key Radar Tests for Fighter Teaming.
Boeing’s improved MQ-28 Ghost Bat adds internal AIM-120 AMRAAM and Small Diameter Bomb carriage, a larger wing, higher useful load, and beyond-line-of-sight control for crewed-uncrewed air combat operations (Picture source: Army Recognition Group).
The measurable changes are concentrated in payload, endurance, and mission control. The revised MQ-28 has a wing more than 25 percent larger, a maximum take-off weight increased from 10,000 lb to 12,000 lb, and a useful load above 4,500 lb. The additional 2,000 lb can be allocated to fuel, mission sensors, electronic-warfare equipment, or weapons, which is why the aircraft is “improved” in a practical rather than promotional sense: the operator has more margin to configure the same basic air vehicle for long-range surveillance, air combat support, or precision strike. The baseline MQ-28 is 38 ft long, flies at fighter-compatible speeds up to Mach 0.9, has a ceiling above 40,000 ft, and is advertised with a range above 2,000 nautical miles, figures that make it relevant for the Indo-Pacific, NATO’s eastern flank, and maritime approaches where distance is a primary operational constraint.
The main armament change is the addition of two internal weapon stations, one on each side of the fuselage. Each station can carry one AIM-120 Advanced Medium-Range Air-to-Air Missile or two Small Diameter Bombs, giving the aircraft a maximum internal load of two AIM-120s or four SDBs, with provision for three external weapon stations when radar signature management is less important than payload volume. The internal arrangement matters because it permits the MQ-28 to carry weapons without the same radar-cross-section penalty associated with external stores. The AIM-120 is an active-radar, beyond-visual-range missile with inertial guidance and an onboard micro-computer; once close enough to the target, its own radar seeker guides the terminal phase, reducing dependence on the launch aircraft’s fire-control radar. In practice, this allows a crewed fighter or E-7-type airborne command aircraft to assign the MQ-28 a missile-firing position, pass targeting data, and keep the uncrewed aircraft closer to the threat axis than a pilot would normally be asked to fly.
The SDB load gives the MQ-28 a different employment profile. The GBU-39/B is a 250 lb-class, GPS/INS-guided glide bomb designed for fixed or relocatable targets at stand-off range; the U.S. Air Force lists the weapon’s reach at more than 40 nautical miles, while Boeing’s product data cites a maximum range greater than 60 nautical miles under favorable release conditions. A four-SDB internal load would not make the MQ-28 a heavy strike aircraft, but it would be enough to attack air-defense radars, command vehicles, communications shelters, fuel points, aircraft on open ramps, bridge nodes, or logistics targets. The internal stations could also support GBU-39/B SDB I or GBU-53/B StormBreaker-class weapons; the latter uses a tri-mode seeker combining millimeter-wave radar, imaging infrared, and semi-active laser guidance, which would make the aircraft more useful against moving or obscured targets if integrated and cleared by the customer.
The operational case is stronger because the MQ-28 has already moved beyond taxi and formation trials. On December 9, 2025, Boeing and the Royal Australian Air Force announced a live air-to-air engagement at Woomera in which an MQ-28 teamed with an E-7A Wedgetail and an F/A-18F Super Hornet to destroy a fighter-class target drone using an AIM-120. Australia’s Defence Department later stated that the target was an Australian-designed Phoenix Jet uncrewed aerial target and that the MQ-28 operated as a loyal wingman to the E-7A over the Woomera Test Range. That test is important because it demonstrated not only missile separation but also a combat chain involving detection, tasking, uncrewed aircraft positioning, weapon release, and engagement authorization. For an air force, the relevant lesson is not that an uncrewed aircraft can fire a missile; it is that the missile shot can be inserted into a wider command-and-control architecture.
Boeing’s new beyond-line-of-sight links are therefore as important as the weapon bays. The company says the MQ-28 can now be controlled from a crewed aircraft, a ground station, or a naval vessel at “unlimited standoff distances,” meaning the mission is no longer restricted to a direct radio line of sight between the uncrewed aircraft and its controller. In tactical terms, that permits a German, Australian, or allied commander to launch MQ-28s from a rear base, hand them to an E-7A, ground control element, or shipborne command node, and then use them to patrol, screen, jam, collect signals, extend radar coverage, or carry weapons ahead of the crewed force. The aircraft’s modular nose also remains central to the concept: different sensor packages can be inserted for intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance, infrared search and track, electronic support or communications relay missions, depending on national priorities.
Germany is the clearest near-term export target: Rheinmetall is the German systems integration partner, Diehl Defence is assigned to explore German weapon integration and technical support, and Rohde & Schwarz is tied to mission and communications systems compatible with Bundeswehr command-and-weapon networks. Diehl’s potential work includes IRIS-T and future air-to-air effectors if selected by the Luftwaffe, while Rohde & Schwarz is associated with NEMACS, a low-detectability, jam-resistant directional communications system. For Germany, the MQ-28 would most logically support Eurofighter and F-35A operations, provide additional missile carriage for defensive counter-air missions, and conduct risk-bearing tasks against Russian ground-based air defenses. Uncrewed combat aircraft only deliver value if they can exchange data with air-defense, fighter, and command systems.
Australia remains the anchor customer, with the government announcing about A$1.4 billion in December 2025 to transition the MQ-28A toward an operational warfighting capability. Japan is not a declared buyer, but Australia has cleared Japanese participation in MQ-28A testing, giving Tokyo direct exposure to a system relevant to long-range air defense and island-chain operations; the aircraft also flew outside Australia for the first time in May 2026 during three flights from Point Mugu in California, indicating U.S. interest in testing deployment, autonomy, and payload integration from an allied location. The likely user group is therefore not every air force, but countries that already operate high-end combat aircraft and networked command assets: Australia, Germany, Japan, the United States, and potentially other NATO or Indo-Pacific F-35 operators. The limiting factors will be export approvals, weapon certification, communications security, autonomy rules, procurement cost, and whether national commanders trust the aircraft enough to assign it armed missions in contested airspace. The aircraft’s military value will depend less on the airframe alone than on how each country integrates it into its own command chain, weapons inventory, and rules of engagement.
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Written by Evan Lerouvillois, Defense Analyst.
Evan studied International Relations, and quickly specialized in defense and security. He is particularly interested in the influence of the defense sector on global geopolitics, and analyzes how technological innovations in defense, arms export contracts, and military strategies influence the international geopolitical scene.
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Boeing Defence Australia has unveiled an upgraded MQ-28 Ghost Bat uncrewed combat aircraft with a larger wing, higher payload capacity, internal weapon stations, and beyond-line-of-sight control, presenting the design at ILA Berlin on June 10, 2026, as allied air forces look for survivable combat mass alongside crewed fighters. The configuration gives countries such as Germany a lower-risk way to push sensors and weapons closer to contested airspace while keeping pilots outside the first layer of enemy air defenses.
The improved MQ-28 is being offered as a reduced-signature combat aircraft able to carry air-to-air missiles or precision bombs and operate under control from fighters, airborne early warning aircraft, ground stations, or naval command nodes. Boeing’s German industry team with Rheinmetall, Diehl Defence and Rohde & Schwarz points to a broader push to adapt autonomous combat aircraft for European requirements before a possible Luftwaffe fielding decision in 2029.
Related topic: Boeing MQ-28 Ghost Bat Stealth Combat Drone Passes Key Radar Tests for Fighter Teaming.
Boeing’s improved MQ-28 Ghost Bat adds internal AIM-120 AMRAAM and Small Diameter Bomb carriage, a larger wing, higher useful load, and beyond-line-of-sight control for crewed-uncrewed air combat operations (Picture source: Army Recognition Group).
The measurable changes are concentrated in payload, endurance, and mission control. The revised MQ-28 has a wing more than 25 percent larger, a maximum take-off weight increased from 10,000 lb to 12,000 lb, and a useful load above 4,500 lb. The additional 2,000 lb can be allocated to fuel, mission sensors, electronic-warfare equipment, or weapons, which is why the aircraft is “improved” in a practical rather than promotional sense: the operator has more margin to configure the same basic air vehicle for long-range surveillance, air combat support, or precision strike. The baseline MQ-28 is 38 ft long, flies at fighter-compatible speeds up to Mach 0.9, has a ceiling above 40,000 ft, and is advertised with a range above 2,000 nautical miles, figures that make it relevant for the Indo-Pacific, NATO’s eastern flank, and maritime approaches where distance is a primary operational constraint.
The main armament change is the addition of two internal weapon stations, one on each side of the fuselage. Each station can carry one AIM-120 Advanced Medium-Range Air-to-Air Missile or two Small Diameter Bombs, giving the aircraft a maximum internal load of two AIM-120s or four SDBs, with provision for three external weapon stations when radar signature management is less important than payload volume. The internal arrangement matters because it permits the MQ-28 to carry weapons without the same radar-cross-section penalty associated with external stores. The AIM-120 is an active-radar, beyond-visual-range missile with inertial guidance and an onboard micro-computer; once close enough to the target, its own radar seeker guides the terminal phase, reducing dependence on the launch aircraft’s fire-control radar. In practice, this allows a crewed fighter or E-7-type airborne command aircraft to assign the MQ-28 a missile-firing position, pass targeting data, and keep the uncrewed aircraft closer to the threat axis than a pilot would normally be asked to fly.
The SDB load gives the MQ-28 a different employment profile. The GBU-39/B is a 250 lb-class, GPS/INS-guided glide bomb designed for fixed or relocatable targets at stand-off range; the U.S. Air Force lists the weapon’s reach at more than 40 nautical miles, while Boeing’s product data cites a maximum range greater than 60 nautical miles under favorable release conditions. A four-SDB internal load would not make the MQ-28 a heavy strike aircraft, but it would be enough to attack air-defense radars, command vehicles, communications shelters, fuel points, aircraft on open ramps, bridge nodes, or logistics targets. The internal stations could also support GBU-39/B SDB I or GBU-53/B StormBreaker-class weapons; the latter uses a tri-mode seeker combining millimeter-wave radar, imaging infrared, and semi-active laser guidance, which would make the aircraft more useful against moving or obscured targets if integrated and cleared by the customer.
The operational case is stronger because the MQ-28 has already moved beyond taxi and formation trials. On December 9, 2025, Boeing and the Royal Australian Air Force announced a live air-to-air engagement at Woomera in which an MQ-28 teamed with an E-7A Wedgetail and an F/A-18F Super Hornet to destroy a fighter-class target drone using an AIM-120. Australia’s Defence Department later stated that the target was an Australian-designed Phoenix Jet uncrewed aerial target and that the MQ-28 operated as a loyal wingman to the E-7A over the Woomera Test Range. That test is important because it demonstrated not only missile separation but also a combat chain involving detection, tasking, uncrewed aircraft positioning, weapon release, and engagement authorization. For an air force, the relevant lesson is not that an uncrewed aircraft can fire a missile; it is that the missile shot can be inserted into a wider command-and-control architecture.
Boeing’s new beyond-line-of-sight links are therefore as important as the weapon bays. The company says the MQ-28 can now be controlled from a crewed aircraft, a ground station, or a naval vessel at “unlimited standoff distances,” meaning the mission is no longer restricted to a direct radio line of sight between the uncrewed aircraft and its controller. In tactical terms, that permits a German, Australian, or allied commander to launch MQ-28s from a rear base, hand them to an E-7A, ground control element, or shipborne command node, and then use them to patrol, screen, jam, collect signals, extend radar coverage, or carry weapons ahead of the crewed force. The aircraft’s modular nose also remains central to the concept: different sensor packages can be inserted for intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance, infrared search and track, electronic support or communications relay missions, depending on national priorities.
Germany is the clearest near-term export target: Rheinmetall is the German systems integration partner, Diehl Defence is assigned to explore German weapon integration and technical support, and Rohde & Schwarz is tied to mission and communications systems compatible with Bundeswehr command-and-weapon networks. Diehl’s potential work includes IRIS-T and future air-to-air effectors if selected by the Luftwaffe, while Rohde & Schwarz is associated with NEMACS, a low-detectability, jam-resistant directional communications system. For Germany, the MQ-28 would most logically support Eurofighter and F-35A operations, provide additional missile carriage for defensive counter-air missions, and conduct risk-bearing tasks against Russian ground-based air defenses. Uncrewed combat aircraft only deliver value if they can exchange data with air-defense, fighter, and command systems.
Australia remains the anchor customer, with the government announcing about A$1.4 billion in December 2025 to transition the MQ-28A toward an operational warfighting capability. Japan is not a declared buyer, but Australia has cleared Japanese participation in MQ-28A testing, giving Tokyo direct exposure to a system relevant to long-range air defense and island-chain operations; the aircraft also flew outside Australia for the first time in May 2026 during three flights from Point Mugu in California, indicating U.S. interest in testing deployment, autonomy, and payload integration from an allied location. The likely user group is therefore not every air force, but countries that already operate high-end combat aircraft and networked command assets: Australia, Germany, Japan, the United States, and potentially other NATO or Indo-Pacific F-35 operators. The limiting factors will be export approvals, weapon certification, communications security, autonomy rules, procurement cost, and whether national commanders trust the aircraft enough to assign it armed missions in contested airspace. The aircraft’s military value will depend less on the airframe alone than on how each country integrates it into its own command chain, weapons inventory, and rules of engagement.
Explore More Defense News
• Land Defense News
• Naval Defense News
• Defense Aerospace News
Written by Evan Lerouvillois, Defense Analyst.
Evan studied International Relations, and quickly specialized in defense and security. He is particularly interested in the influence of the defense sector on global geopolitics, and analyzes how technological innovations in defense, arms export contracts, and military strategies influence the international geopolitical scene.
