Ghost Bat drone makes first deployment in latest milestone
An MQ-28A Ghost Bat on the tarmac as an F-35A Lightning II taxis after a sortie during Exercise Carlsbad at RAAF Base Tindal. (Photo: Commonwealth of Australia)
In the past 18 months, Boeing’s MQ-28A Ghost Bat uncrewed aerial system (UAS) has achieved several milestones including teaming with manned aircraft, achieving 100 flight hours and training of first military pilot.
Boeing’s Ghost Bat MQ-28A UAS has conducted its first flight outside the Woomera Training area in South Australia. It is part of Exercise Carlsbad which is one of a series of test events throughout 2025 that will mature and exhibit the capabilities of the platform.
The exercise took place at Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) Base Tindal in the Northern Territory as a proof point for the autonomous aircraft’s ability to establish operations and deploy from any location, particularly unfamiliar environments.
This is Ghost Bat’s first mission at a deployed location. It was achieved within a seven-day period to test
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