Boeing’s Ghost Bat Drone Flew with F-35 and More in Pacific Exercise

Boeing’s MQ-28 Collaborative Combat Aircraft flew with multiple F-35 variants as well as battle management aircraft during a recent major Pacific exercise, the contractor announced this week.

Exercise Valiant Shield 26, which took place June 22 to July 1 t, spanning Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands, and Japan, marked the first time the U.S. Air Force included a CCA drone in a large-scale, joint multinational exercise. In a release, Boeing said the Ghost Bat “participated … alongside F-35A, F-35B, F-15EX, HC-130, E-3, E-2D, EA-18G, RC-135, and various other joint and coalition aircraft.”

Pacific Air Forces previously revealed the MQ-28’s flight with an F-15EX, a first for the two aircraft, and published photos and videos of the Ghost Bat conducting a Forward Arming and Refueling Point operation with an HC-130J Combat King II, a special operations aircraft.

This would be the first publicly known instance of an F-35 flying with a CCA; while an F-35 pilot controlled an MQ-20 “CCA surrogate” in May, the pilot and fighter were on the ground for that test.

A Boeing spokesperson deferred to the Air Force when asked for more details on the Ghost Bat’s participation with the manned aircraft, including whether the drone was controlled by aviators in those planes. Pacific Air Forces did not respond to a query.

PACAF officials said before the exercise that the MQ-28 would “fly in concert with crewed fighter platforms” and help operators “refine tactics, techniques, and procedures for this next evolution of airpower.”

Not only does the milestone give Air Force aviators more insight into how they will employ the semi-autonomous drones in the future, it also raises Boeing’s profile in the fast-growing CCA market. While the Air Force has selected Anduril and General Atomics to build its first CCAs, it is actively refining concepts for a second “increment” of drone designs, seeking less costly options. The service has not revealed the nine companies that received concept refinement contracts, but Boeing was among the five finalists for the first increment.

The Boeing spokesperson told Air & Space Forces Magazine the company did not offer the MQ-28 for increment one because “requirements were different at the time.”

Asked whether Boeing will pitch the MQ-28 for Increment 2, the spokesperson said the company will “continue to explore international opportunities where Ghost Bat is the best fit.”

Besides the USAF program, the Navy and Marine Corps are also pursuing CCA designs, as are a host of U.S. allies, including the United Kingdom, Germany, Japan, and more.

In addition to all the aircraft Boeing said the MQ-28 flew with, Valiant Shield also featured the B-2 bomber, the F-22 fighter, the P-8 maritime patrol and reconnaissance aircraft, KC-130J, KC-46, and KC-135 tankers, and the C-130J airlifter. Japan, Canada, New Zealand, and Australia all participated as well.