As Germany will look to integrating a Collaborative Combat Aircraft (CCA) into its air force, Boeing's MQ-28 Ghost Bat is currently available to enable this rapid capability build-up.
According to Boeing, previous flight tests show that the MQ-28 can meet the German requirements with regard to both air-to-ground and air-to-air operations.
The high maturity level of the MQ-28 will enable Germany to immediately build sovereign capabilities – including the integration of German sensors, weapons and mission software.
Boeing is continuously investing in the further development of the MQ-28, including its air-to-ground capabilities. To ensure the accelerated build-up of CCA capabilities in Germany, Rheinmetall will contribute as system integrator.
According to Boeing, the MQ-28 Ghost Bat possesses a high level of maturity to date, and it is the first and only strike-fighter drone to have already participated in multinational exercises. For example, in the US military manoeuvre Exercise Valiant Shield.
“While many CCA programs worldwide are still in the concept, definition or early test phase, the MQ-28A Ghost Bat has already gone through these essential development steps," Boeing Defense Australia, Global Director of the MQ-28 program, Glen Ferguson, indicated.
At the same time, Boeing believes the MQ-28 Ghost Bat offers the German Air Force a realistic development and test environment to further develop procedures and tactics for cooperation between manned and unmanned aircraft.
“If the goal is to achieve such a capability by 2029, this work must begin today with the development of tactics, training, definition of force structure and the integration of sovereign technologies," Ferguson emphasised.
Together with Rheinmetall, Rohde & Schwarz, Diehl Defence and Hensoldt, Boeing has been building an industrial ecosystem that it claims will enable Germany in the long term to develop and integrate the required capabilities within its own country.
Rheinmetall has taken the first step by establishing an independent system integration for the MQ-28 in Germany.
“Germany does not have to choose between speed and independence. We offer a way to achieve both at the same time. The MQ-28 enables us to bypass the lengthy development phase of a new aircraft and go directly to the decisive task: making the capabilities of unmanned combat air systems available to the German Air Force," Rheinmetall, CEO of the Business Unit Air, Uncrewed and Space, Mike Schmidt, said.
Establishing an independent system integration is at the same time an investment in the German defence industry. Software development, mission integration and intellectual property remain within the German industrial ecosystem.
This will allow national capabilities to be developed, tested and integrated immediately on the MQ28. Future CCA platforms will then benefit from these experiences.
“The MQ-28 Ghost Bat has been designed from the outset as an extremely adaptable platform. Experiences gathered in operational use to date show that the MQ-28’s architecture can be quickly adapted to new mission requirements, including air-to-ground capabilities. This is not about a retrofit, but about using a modular design that is conceived from the ground up for continuous adaptations," Ferguson highligted.
With the help of a digital twin, the MQ-28 is continuously being further developed, also supported by extensive flight test data and insights from the test program with the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF).