Rheinmetall and Boeing Australia have formed a strategic partnership to offer the MQ-28 Ghost Bat as a collaborative combat aircraft for the German air force, targeting deployment by 2029.
Under the arrangement, Rheinmetall will act as system manager for the MQ-28 in Germany, overseeing integration into existing and future Bundeswehr command and weapon systems, adaptation to national requirements and operational, maintenance and logistical support. Boeing will contribute the mature aircraft platform, which has been designed, developed and flight tested in Australia for the Royal Australian Air Force.
The MQ-28 has completed more than 150 flights and recently demonstrated the ability to autonomously engage and destroy an airborne target. Its open, modular system architecture is designed to support third-party integration and continuous software and hardware upgrades. Mission capabilities include reconnaissance, electronic warfare and weapons integration.
Armin Papperger, CEO of Rheinmetall, said, “With Boeing Defence Australia as a partner, we are laying the groundwork to optimally tailor the MQ-28 to the Bundeswehr’s requirements. As a system integrator, we ensure that integration, operation, and further development come from a single source whilst simultaneously strengthening industrial value creation in the form of an industrial hub in Germany and Europe.”
The partnership will include a dedicated digital environment in Germany, where engineers from both countries will contribute to testing and validating new software and hardware. Rheinmetall said the collaboration offers time savings over developing a new platform, leveraging years of Australian development and flight test data.
Collaborative combat aircraft (CCA) are semi-autonomous drones designed to operate alongside piloted fighters, acting as force multipliers by performing high-risk tasks such as forward sensing and electronic attack in contested airspace. Several nations are developing CCA programs, including the USA, where General Atomics’ YFQ-42A and Anduril’s YFQ-44A are competing for a US Air Force production contract. Airbus has also revealed a CCA concept for the European market, while the UK Royal Navy is pursuing its own carrier-based autonomous aircraft under Project Vanquish.
Dr. Brendan Nelson, president of Boeing Global, said, “This is not just a partnership between our companies but between two great countries, Germany and Australia, who share a similar strategy for integrating collaborative combat aircraft into their air forces.”
ENDS
CAPTIONS
Alt text: A Boeing MQ-28 Ghost Bat uncrewed combat aircraft on the ground at an airfield with its landing gear deployed
Caption: Boeing’s MQ-28 Ghost Bat has completed more than 150 flights since its first flight in 2021 and has been offered to the German air force in partnership with Rheinmetall (Image: Boeing)
Description: The MQ-28 Ghost Bat in its grey operational livery with Royal Australian Air Force roundel visible on the fuselage, parked on a runway under overcast skies showing the aircraft’s stealthy blended fuselage and single dorsal intake
