ILA 2026: Boeing-Rheinmetall reveal enhanced Ghost Bat for Germany

Boeing and Rheinmetall showcased the Block 2 Ghost Bat that has been performing flight trials, at the ILA Berlin Airshow. (Janes/Gareth Jennings)

Boeing and Rheinmetall revealed an enhanced version of the MQ-28 Ghost Bat ‘loyal wingman' that the partners are offering to Germany.

Revealed at the ILA Berlin Airshow on 10 June 2026, the Block 3 version of the unmanned collaborative combat aircraft (CCA) features a raft of improvements over the Block 1 and Block 2 variants that have so far flown more than 150 test sorties in Australia and the US.

“This is the aircraft that we are offering to Germany,” MQ-28 Global Program Director, Glen Ferguson, said. “This is the third iteration of design now, and we are on point to build out first [improved] aircraft next year.”

As Ferguson noted, the chief enhancements of the Block 3 are a 25% larger wing by area for more payload carrying capability, increased thrust from 10,000 lb to 12,000 lb, beyond-line-of-sight (BLOS) control, and two integrated weapons bays (one on each side of the fuselage) to carry a combined two RTX AIM-120 Advanced Medium-Range Air-to-Air Missiles (AMRAAMs) and four Boeing GBU-39 Small Diameter Bomb I / RTX GBU-53 StormBreaker Small Diameter Bomb II munitions. A product board displayed at ILA 2026 showed the Ghost Bat to have a range of 2,000 n miles, a top speed of Mach 0.9, and a service ceiling in excess of 40,000 ft.

“All of this is built on nine years of learned knowledge [since the Ghost Bat programme was launched in 2017],” Ferguson said. “It will be in service with the Royal Australian Air Force in 2028, and I am fairly certain that it will be the first operational CCA anywhere in the world.”