Rheinmetall and Boeing partner MQ-28 Ghost Bat for Germany

A Boeing MQ-28 Ghost Bat Collaborative Combat Aircraft. (Boeing)

Boeing Australia and Rheinmetall have begun a partnership to offer the MQ-28 Ghost Bat Collaborative Combat Aircraft (CCA) for Germany as the Bundeswehr looks to procure CCAs by 2029.

The Bundeswehr wants to increase combat mass with CCAs (also called Loyal Wingmen) as the 2030 out of service date for its Tornado fleet approaches.

As of March 2026 the MQ-28 Ghost Bat is potentially competing for the acquisition against two other systems: the XQ-58A Valkyrie, being developed by Airbus and Kratos, and the CA-1 Europa being developed by Helsing and Grob.

The US Marine Corps selected the XQ-58A as its first operational CCA in January 2026.The MQ-28 has conducted the most flights of the three systems: around 150 as of March 2026, largely through Operational Test and Evaluation (OT&E) flights for the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF), which is its launch customer.

The MQ-28 could conduct missions including reconnaissance, electronic warfare, and strike while in a manned-unmanned teaming (MUM-T) arrangement with manned platforms, Rheinmetall said in a 31 March 2026 press release.

Rheinmetall said that under the partnership it would be the system manager for the MQ-28 in Germany, overseeing system integration with Bundeswehr command and weapon systems, and providing maintenance and logistics support. The company cited its experience in production of 5th-generation fighter aircraft (through its fuselage construction and maintenance role in the F-35 Lightning II global supply chain), and of unmanned systems. Rheinmetall CEO Armin Papperger said that he sees revenue potential through the partnership in the range of three-digit millions of euros.

What Rheinmetall called a “dedicated digital environment” would be set up in Germany for engineers from both there and Australia to test new software and hardware.