May 25, 2023

Ghost Bat – Australia

Boeing has an Australian division and part of its function is to develop aircraft for the Royal Air Force. While their military may not be as large and well-funded as the US, it is a high-tech and well-equipped fighting force. The first aircraft to be completely produced by Australians in a half-century is shaping up to be like the Valkyrie UAV, a semi-autonomous aircraft that uses AI for flight control, according to New Atlas. The project had been known as Loyal Wingman but is now referred to by its official moniker, MQ-28A Ghost Bat. Giving it an official designation represents another step toward the completion and deployment of the project and naming it after a species native to Australia helps denote it as an Aussie original.

The project is a joint effort between the Royal Air Force and Boeing’s Australian division. With the heavy involvement of an American company and the historical sharing of intelligence and hardware means that the Ghost Bat will be adopted elsewhere, with the USAF Secretary recently giving the program praise and signalling continued investment in autonomous AI technology. Given Australia’s significant geographic isolation, the Ghost Bat may be most menacing to rogue wallabies, but should the RAAF join its defence partners in combat, this will be a fearsome component of their fleet.