MQ-28 Ghost Bat

The Royal Australian Air Force named the aircraft 'Ghost Bat' in March 2022. Naming Australian combat aircraft after Australian wildlife is RAAF tradition — Boomerang, Pelican, Wirraway. The Australian ghost bat (Macroderma gigas) is a native carnivorous bat. Boeing's original program name was 'Loyal Wingman'; the U.S. Air Force designation is YFQ-44A. Together the names reflect the international character of the program: Australian-designed, U.S.-procured, with broader allied interest.

They are different in size and concept. The XQ-58 Valkyrie is a smaller airframe (6,000 lb MTOW) with a shorter combat radius (~1,500 nmi), rocket-launched and parachute-recovered, optimised for low-cost attritable use. The MQ-28 is larger at ~11,000 lb MTOW, with a 2,000 nmi combat radius, runway-launched and runway-recovered, and built for sustained wingman work. Unit cost targets are $2-4M USD for the XQ-58 versus $10-15M USD for the MQ-28, reflecting the more capable design. The two are complementary in U.S. Air Force CCA planning and may serve different mission roles.

Manned-unmanned teaming is the doctrine of crewed combat aircraft — F-35, F-22, NGAD — flying in formation with unmanned wingmen such as the MQ-28, XQ-58, and YFQ-42A. The unmanned aircraft handle high-risk tasks like SEAD, ISR penetration of contested airspace, decoy work, and weapons delivery, all under high-level direction from the crewed pilot. The concept is the principal organisational driver of both the U.S. Air Force CCA program and the RAAF Loyal Wingman / MQ-28 effort, replacing the traditional four-ship fighter formation with mixed formations of one or more crewed fighters and two to four unmanned wingmen.

In April 2024 the U.S. Air Force selected the General Atomics YFQ-42A and the Boeing YFQ-44A (an MQ-28 derivative) as the two Increment 1 Collaborative Combat Aircraft platforms, beating entries from Anduril, Lockheed Martin, and Northrop Grumman. Increment 1 contracts cover 100-300 airframes total split between the two manufacturers, with initial service entry targeted for the late 2020s. Increment 2 will follow with further contracts and additional manufacturers. The total CCA program through 2030 is projected at more than 1,000 airframes valued at $20-50B USD.

Yes. The internal weapons bay supports roughly 4,400 lb of payload. Specific cleared weapons have not been disclosed, though Boeing has shown the airframe with internal-bay weapons compatibility. Likely loadouts include AGM-114 Hellfire, AGM-179 JAGM, the GBU-39 Small Diameter Bomb, AIM-120 AMRAAM for air-to-air work in the wingman role, and electronic-warfare or decoy payloads. The modular nose and bay design allows rapid configuration changes between mission types — a key feature for the wingman concept.

Typical mission endurance is 9-10 hours on internal fuel, with a combat radius of about 2,000 nmi (3,700 km). That range is well beyond smaller competitors such as the XQ-58 at ~1,500 nmi, reflecting Australia's continental geography and the requirement to operate across the country and into the Pacific without forward basing. Service ceiling is 50,000 ft and cruise speed Mach 0.7. Long range, an internal weapons bay, and a low-observable airframe combine to make the MQ-28 credible for penetrating-strike missions in contested airspace.