Boeing has provided some additional details on the new features of the MQ-28 Ghost Bat drone in the Block 3 version as it prepares to launch the aircraft in Australia.
According to a report by The War Zone, the new information about the MQ-28 was provided by Glen Ferguson, the program director, during conversations with media outlets at the Singapore Airshow this week.
Currently, the Block 3 aircraft is the most ambitious iteration of the MQ-28 and will follow the Block 2, which is in production for the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF).
At the end of last year, Australia signed contracts with Boeing Defense Australia (BDA) for six Block 2 aircraft, having previously ordered three of the same standard.
But at the same time that it ordered its latest batch of Block 2 drones, Australia has already signed a contract for the development of the enhanced Block 3, about which Ferguson provided further information.
According to information from Ferguson reported by TWZ, the Block 3 will include an internal weapons bay to accommodate an Advanced Medium-Range Air-to-Air Missile AIM-120 (AMRAAM) or two Small Diameter Bombs (SDB) GBU-39/B, or equivalents in terms of size.
A pair of SDB IIs, also known as the GBU-53/B StormBreaker glide bomb, would be another option, but Ferguson emphasized that this was potentially just the starting point. “The best language to use is what we provide in the weapons bay,” he said.
“The reality is that because we are modular, and because we have an open architecture, and because we have the ability for people to do things on their own, we can put any weapon across the entire spectrum […]. Now, which ones we actually use really depends on the customers.”
Indeed, the Block 1 and Block 2 aircraft also have space to accommodate a weapons bay, which can be adapted if the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) decides to do so.
But beyond internal weapons carriage and new weapons and sensors, the Ghost Bat will also grow in size with the Block 3, according to a report by Breaking Defense.
The drone’s wingspan will increase from 6 meters to 7.3 meters, providing an increase of approximately 30% in fuel capacity, which is particularly relevant for missions in the Indo-Pacific region.
“One of the reasons we put the larger wing on the Block 3 jet is for range. Remember the Pacific mission: you obviously need range,” Ferguson added.
Having the Block 3 version of the drone better optimized for the Indo-Pacific region should make it more attractive not only to the U.S. military, but also to allied air forces in the same region.
Ferguson did not speak about any potential plans to acquire the MQ-28, but emphasized that “the opportunities for CCAs [Collaborative Combat Aircraft] in Southeast Asia are immense.”
Photos: Boeing Australia / Australian Department of Defense. This content was created with the help of AI and reviewed by the editorial team.
