Australia to commit $1 billion to ‘Ghost Bat’, nation’s first home-grown combat aircraft in 50yrs
Australia’s first indigenous fighter jet in more than 50 years will move from prototype to production, with the federal government announcing more than $1 billion in funding to boost cooperative air capabilities.
The announcement will include new contracts with Boeing Defense Australia for the delivery of the first six operational Block 2 MQ-28A Stealth Bats; This is a significant step in transforming the experimental program into a fully functioning combat fighting platform for the Australian Defense Force (ADF).
It is understood the government will outline how the new aircraft will form the backbone of the Royal Australian Air Force’s future operational air combat capability.
The major investment is part of a broader $10 billion commitment to drones over the next decade; This includes at least $4.3 billion for uncrewed air systems.
More than $2.34 billion has been invested in the Ghost Bat project since 2019.
The federal government was responsible for $1.72 billion of that in the last two years alone.
A sleek, autonomous “loyal wingman” designed to fly alongside advanced fighter jets, the Ghost Bat is the first fighter jet designed, engineered and produced on Australian soil in more than 50 years.
The program currently supports more than 440 highly skilled jobs across the country, with more than 35 Australian companies contributing to the development of the aircraft.
The MQ-28A is classified as a Collaborative Fighter that can use its advanced sensors and artificial intelligence to perform missions traditionally performed by fighter jets.
The platform can team up with crewed aircraft such as the Joint Strike Fighter, Super Hornet, Wedgetail early warning aircraft, and P-8 Poseidon, effectively multiplying the combat power of a single fighter into a networked team.
According to the Royal Australian Air Force, Ghost Bat is a “pathfinder” program to integrate autonomous systems and artificial intelligence into intelligent human-machine teams.
The aircraft has a range of more than 3700 km and has been purpose-built to explore levels of automation, autonomy and human-machine collaboration.
Its development was supported by a 2023 cooperation agreement with the United States, which enabled secret technology sharing and joint work on aircraft behavior, payloads, sensors and data links.
During 2025, Ghost Bat completed a number of significant capability demonstrations, including simultaneous control of two MQ-28As by a single operator in an E-7A Wedgetail, integration of newly developed sensor payloads into the aircraft, and its first deployment beyond the Woomera test range, operating from RAAF Base Tindal in the Northern Territory.
The government had previously signaled that the Ghost Bat would conduct live air-to-air missile launches against a moving target before the end of the year; this was a milestone that symbolized its arrival as a frontline-ready weapon system.
