No weapons: Ghost Bats shifted to spy missions

The Albanese government has shelved plans to develop the $800m-plus Ghost Bat drone as lethal weapon after the company designing the aircraft was struck out of a US government program.

Boeing’s MQ-28A Ghost Bat.

The Albanese government has shelved plans to develop the $800m-plus Ghost Bat drone as a lethal weapon after the company designing the aircraft was struck out of a US government program to supply 1000 autonomous combat jets to operate with manned fighters.

The Boeing Australia uncrewed aircraft was seen as the nation’s best hope for a sophisticated “killer drone”, but senior government sources said it would now be designed as an intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR) platform.

It’s understood the government had anticipated Boeing would miss out on entry to the US Collaborative Combat Aircraft program, and decided with the company to pivot to a different primary mission.

A government source familiar with the program said the development of the Ghost Bat as an ISR drone would meet an important requirement for Defence and would be less challenging because it would not require “rules of ­engagement” governing its use of weapons.

Defence analysts warned that the Ghost Bat would have been at risk of becoming an expensive “orphan” if the government and Boeing opted to develop the platform as an armed platform outside the US CCA program.

The US Air Force selected tech disrupter Anduril and longtime drone-maker General Atomics as its top candidates for manufacturing and testing under the CAA program.

The MQ-28A Ghost Bat – the first military aircraft to be ­designed and built in Australia for 50 years – has been heavily backed by successive governments. Labor allocated an extra $400m to the program in February to produce three “block 2” test aircraft by the end of next year.

At the time, the government said the “loyal wingman” drone would undertake a wide range of missions “including performing combat roles”.

The program is a politically significant one, with the fresh funding securing 350 ongoing jobs and the establishment of a new production facility at ­Wellcamp Business Park, west of Brisbane.

Boeing told The Australian it was disappointed it didn’t move forward in the first phase of the US CCA program, but the company was “undeterred in our commitment to providing next-generation autonomous combat aircraft for US and global military customers”.

It said work would continue on the Ghost Bat and the company’s MQ-25 Stingray drone, which is being developed as an aerial ­refueller that would operate from aircraft carriers.

“The modular and open design of MQ-28 (Ghost Bat) enables it to supplement a broad range of ADF missions and we are currently working to develop an operational capability in a ­number of these areas, aligned with the National Defence Strategy,” a Boeing Australia spokeswoman said.

The government’s National Defence Strategy, unveiled in April, promised continued investment in uncrewed and autonomous systems, including the Ghost Bat, “providing a potentially asymmetric surveillance and strike capability”.

The Ghost Bat program has received $849m in committed funding, spending just under $500m so far.

Australian Strategic Policy ­Institute analyst Malcolm Davis said the original concept for the aircraft was to extend the reach and firepower of crewed aircraft as a flying “missile truck” and electronic warfare platform.

He said Boeing’s failure to ­secure a spot in the US CCA program had complicated the aircraft’s development path, but the decision to develop the drone as an unarmed platform “undervalues the whole concept”.

“If the government is going to do this, then you would hope the air force down the track will push for an evolved Ghost Bat that is larger, with greater performance, and a combat capability,” Dr Davis said. “Otherwise it sells the whole concept of a collaborative combat aircraft short, leaving it with only half the capability.”

He said one of the criticisms of the Ghost Bat was around its “limited performance”, including its small payload capacity and subsonic speeds. “What they need to do is evolve it into a larger vehicle,” Dr Davis said.

Strategic Analysis Australia research director Marcus Hellyer said an unarmed Ghost Bat could still undertake combat roles, ­including acting as “sophisticated flying decoys” to protect crewed fighter jets.

Dr Hellyer said it could also be fitted with electronic warfare ­payloads to jam the radar systems of enemy aircraft, giving it an ­“offensive” role.

“Hopefully they built this thing so that it can easily incorporate new sensors, weapons or tools, whatever they are,” he said.

The government has allocated $10bn towards uncrewed and autonomous capabilities over the next decade, unveiling several new drones in recent weeks that will be procured for the ADF. They include the lethal US-made Switchblade 300 loitering ­munition for the army, which can deliver a grenade-sized warhead over distances of up to 20km.

Australian company Sypaq and Germany’s Quantum Systems will also supply small tactical drones to ADF by next year.

Meanwhile, the government has brought forward the scheduled delivery of $2bn worth of landing craft for the army. The first of 18 medium-sized landing craft would be delivered by 2026 rather than 2028, Defence Industry Minister Pat Conroy said. The scheduled delivery of eight heavy landing craft would be brought forward to 2028 from an original plan of 2035, he said.