bat

She wasn’t even aware to begin with

A woman was bitten by a bat on holiday and ended up seeking rabies treatment thanks to AI.

Laura Horton, 53, was on a two-week birthday trip to Lesbos, Greece, in May 2026 when she found a bat drowning in the swimming pool at the apartment complex where she was visiting a friend. She grabbed the animal from the water and let it sit in her hand for 10 minutes to “dry off” – unaware it had bitten her before flying away.

Laura wanted to know what type of bat she had rescued, so she uploaded a photo of it sitting in the palm of her hand to Google Lens. As well as identifying it as a pipistrelle bat, the AI programme alerted her to seek medical treatment immediately due to the risk of contracting rabies from handling the animal.

She also claimed Google Lens warned her that she would be unable to feel a bat bite as their teeth are too small, and on closer inspection, Laura noticed two tiny pin-prick bite marks. According to the NHS website, rabies is a rare but serious infection that is usually caught from an infected animal’s bite or scratch, and it is almost always fatal once symptoms appear.

Laura went to the Hospital of Mytilene, Lesbos, the following day, May 8, where she started a course of preventative rabies post-exposure vaccines. She had a total of three jabs in Greece, followed by her fourth and final jab when she returned to the UK on June 1 at the School of Tropical Medicine, Liverpool.

Laura, a personal trainer from Mossley Hill, Liverpool, who spoke to Talk to the Press, said: “I had no idea you could catch rabies from a bat. I grabbed it from the water on instinct because it was drowning – I had no idea of the risks.

“It sat on my hand for about 10 minutes, drying off. We all thought it looked cute, so I took a photo of it.”

After uploading the image to Google Lens to determine the species of bat, Laura was met with a series of questions from the AI tool.

She said: “It started asking questions like, ‘are those your hands?’ and ‘have you washed your hands for 15 minutes after handling it?’ It warned me of the risk of rabies and said I wouldn’t feel a bite, as their teeth are too small.

“I thought it was all a bit dramatic. But when I took a photo of my hand, I saw two tiny bite marks.”

Laura was four days into her two-week holiday in Petra, a village on the Greek island of Lesbos, with friends when she was bitten. She rang her insurance company the following day, May 8, which confirmed she should seek medical attention.

She needed to undergo a course of rabies post-exposure prophylaxis (PEP) – a life-saving treatment given immediately after a potential bite or scratch from a rabid animal. Later that day, Laura went to the hospital, but claims a language barrier nearly prevented her from getting the correct treatment.

“At first, they tried to send me away with antibiotics,” she said. “I’m not sure they understood what happened.

“I was sent to a travel clinic and a nurse was furious I hadn’t been given the first dose yet. I went back to the hospital and found the infectious diseases department – they were brilliant.”

She returned on May 11 and May 15 for two more jabs while in Greece and had a fourth when she returned to the UK on June 1.

She said: “My GP didn’t actually know what to do. Luckily, we have the School of Tropical Medicine in Liverpool and I was able to get my fourth injection arranged with them very easily.

“I later found out there is a dedicated rabies hotline in the UK that would have delivered it to my doctor’s surgery. It was lucky Google Lens told me to go to hospital – who knows what might have happened.

“I read the tragic case about the boy in Canada who died after a bat landed on his face. A lot of people aren’t aware of the dangers of these wild animals and the risks. Hopefully I can help raise awareness.”

We have long discussed the compelling case for the U.S. Air Force’s new F-15EX Eagle II to serve as a ‘drone controller’ for the service’s forthcoming Collaborative Combat Aircraft (CCA). Now, we have a first chance to see what that might look like for real, with one of the fighters operating alongside an MQ-28 Ghost Bat drone during the U.S.-led Valiant Shield 26 military exercise currently spanning the Indo-Pacific region.

The first photos of this combination were published on the official Facebook page of U.S. Pacific Command (PACAF). Taken over the Philippine Sea, PACAF says they demonstrate “the future of human-machine teaming in the theater.” The command adds: “Uncrewed systems act as a force multiplier, extending the reach and effectiveness of human pilots.”

No further details of the extent of the integration have so far been provided, but we had already highlighted how the MQ-28’s involvement in its first multinational large-force exercise provides an opportunity for just this kind of activity, in a high-end coalition environment.

The pairing of the F-15EX and the MQ-28 — both Boeing products — has appeared regularly in the company’s renderings, suggesting that the Eagle II has been earmarked for working with CCAs.

As long ago as our story that broke the news that the F-15EX was in the works, we laid out how it would be an ideal platform for drone control. Key factors in this respect include its two-person cockpit, generously proportioned cockpit displays, processing power, networking, easy adaptability, and long range.

Speaking to TWZ in 2024, Maj. Aaron “Kamikaze” Eshkenazi, an F-15EX pilot assigned to the 85th Test and Evaluation Squadron “Skulls” at Eglin Air Force Base, Florida, noted:

“There’s a lot of discussion about what potential applications we might have for the back seat [in the F-15EX]. Whether it’s the existing kind of weapon system operator [WSO] role, a cyber person, or an ABM [air battle manager]. All of those options are available, and it really depends upon those mission sets as we continue to expand into the future.”

While the WSO’s main role is to manage the weapon systems, as it is in the previous F-15E Strike Eagle, “We are looking at the role of the back seat [in the F-15EX] in terms of helping dictate the battlespace,” added Maj. Joshua “Viper” Judy, a WSO assigned to the 40th Flight Test Squadron, in the course of the same interview.

“Does this involve a command and control [C2] role, is it battle management, maybe a combination of things depending on the mission set — we’re talking about flying unmanned fighters out there,” Maj. Judy continued. “The whole goal of this airplane is to optimize both the front seat and the rear cockpit for whatever mission sets we’re executing as we continue to expand these roles in the future.”

At that time, CCA testing with the F-15EX was yet to begin, but Maj. Judy stressed that “from a WSO perspective, having that large area display [LAD] and customizable screens makes for much easier data synthesis compared to the F-15E with its four screens with 1980s-era monochrome. Having that additional situational awareness from the LAD and being able to customize the information that is being displayed to me is helpful in pretty much every mission set that I can fly.”

There is also the specific relevance of the F-15EX as a drone controller in the Indo-Pacific theater.

The Air Force’s future CCAs will be especially needed in the Indo-Pacific, where the Chinese People’s Liberation Army Air Force is rapidly growing in both size and capabilities.

Gen. Kenneth Wilsbach, the commander of Air Combat Command who was then-head of PACAF, said that the Air Force was “absolutely” considering fielding CCA drones at Kadena Air Base in Japan, where they would be a perfect adjunct to the co-located F-15EX fleet.

Meanwhile, having CCAs based at other locations in the region, but potentially still controlled by F-15EX fighters, would “complicate the battlespace and create chaos for your adversary,” Wilsbach added.

The decision to establish a permanent F-15EX presence in Japan likewise reflected how the aircraft’s specific capabilities are seen as hugely relevant in a potential future conflict with China.

A war of that kind would also see the Air Force rely heavily upon operations from austere airfields. This will be conducted under the Agile Combat Employment (ACE) concept, something that is seen as fundamental to survival in a future conflict with China.

Reflecting this, Valiant Shield saw the MQ-28 involved in a proof-of-concept Forward Arming and Refueling Point (FARP) operation for CCAs at Rota, in the Northern Mariana Islands. Photos published by the Air Force showed the MQ-28 taking part alongside Air Force HC-130J Combat King II and HH-60W Jolly Green II combat search and rescue aircraft, members of the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF), and the Nellis-based Experimental Operations Unit.

It should also be recalled that the Air Force’s new CCA drones are being developed from the ground up around concepts for distributed and disaggregated operations.

The Air Force has test units already set up to explore how to use CCAs operationally, including under the ACE concept of operation. These kinds of trials are now also involving the first two Air Force Increment 1 CCAs, with the YFQ-44 Fury ‘fighter drone’ prototype having been tested out of Edwards Air Force Base, California, helping to demonstrate how CCAs can be deployed and sustained in contested environments.

The new photos showing the F-15EX and MQ-28 operating together in a major multinational exercise are significant in that they provide a glimpse of how future Air Force operations will team crewed combat jets with CCA adjuncts.

There are still questions around it, however. We lack any information on whether the F-15EX was connected to the MQ-28 in Valiant Shield, and to what degree autonomous teaming software was being exercised. It could be they simply flew in formation for a photo op, or they could have been doing more extensive testing. After all, Valiant Shield is known for proof-of-concept trials of this kind.

We also don’t know whether any weapons-related missions were performed. At least one end-to-end weapons trial involving the MQ-28 has already taken place, with an AIM-120 Advanced Medium Range Air-to-Air Missile (AMRAAM) having been launched from one of the drones during Trial Kareela at RAAF Base Woomera, South Australia, late last year.

At the very least, this part of Valiant Shield represents an important step from the previous concept art of the F-15EX collaborating with the MQ-28 and toward operational experimentation.

The F-15EX is currently on something of a high, with the Air Force’s budget for the 2027 Fiscal Year outlining a massive boost for the program, with the planned buy now reportedly standing at 267 jets. This comes after the aircraft excelled in its Operational Test & Evaluation (DOT&E) program, as you can read about here.

As for the MQ-28, a CCA like this would be exactly the kind of system that could expand F-15EX’s sensor reach, weapons carriage, and tactical options, including via its infrared search and track (IRST) sensor, seen fitted during Valiant Shield. The drone has been flying in Australia since 2021, and the RAAF has received eight Ghost Bats in the pre-production Block 1 configuration.

Boeing is now building the first of a batch of nine Block 2 drones for the RAAF, which will provide a stepping stone to the fully operational Block 3 version. The Block 3 aircraft will have increased wingspan and payload, among other features. It will also have an internal weapons bay that can accommodate a single AMRAAM, two GBU-39/B Small Diameter Bombs (SDB), or equivalently sized stores.

On the U.S. side of the program, test flights of the MQ-28 have been conducted off the coast of southern California from the U.S. Navy’s base in Point Mugu. Boeing is also actively exploring potential export sales, with the Indo-Pacific having been identified as a key market.

If future testing progresses as expected, among its various roles, the F-15EX could well become an airborne command node directing multiple autonomous CCAs, greatly increasing the combat capability of each crewed aircraft and the Air Force as a whole.

Contact the author: thomas@thewarzone.com

The MQ-28 Ghost Bat drone will gain a valuable opportunity to prove its relevance in a high-end coalition environment as part of Valiant Shield 26, the sprawling U.S.-led military exercise spanning Japan, Guam, Hawaii, and Australia, which began this week. It is also, as far as we know, the first time that the MQ-28 has taken part in a multinational large-force exercise of any kind. The participation of the collaborative combat aircraft (CCA) comes soon after Boeing confirmed it was conducting a separate series of test flights of the drone off the coast of southern California, part of efforts to validate autonomous operations and demonstrate rapid deployment from an allied location.

While Australia’s contribution to Valiant Shield includes a P-8A Poseidon maritime patrol aircraft and around 80 personnel, one of the more notable aspects is the involvement of Australian Defense Forces (ADF) aviator observers alongside a U.S.-led MQ-28 component. The arrangement will allow Australian personnel to work with operators and planners as the uncrewed aircraft is employed in a complex, multi-domain operational environment for the first time.

Directed by the U.S. Indo-Pacific Command, Exercise Valiant Shield 2026 kicked off on Monday and continues through July 1.

“Valiant Shield demonstrates our enduring commitment to a free and open Indo-Pacific,” Adm. Steve Koehler, commander of U.S. Pacific Fleet, said in a media release. “Exercising advanced multidomain capabilities with our allies ensures we continue to seamlessly innovate and operate together, project combat power together, and prevail over any challenge — together.”

The U.S. Air Force today released a series of photos showing an MQ-28 taking part in Valiant Shield. The drone was photographed at Rota, in the Northern Mariana Islands, on June 21. Accompanying captions state that the Ghost Bat will be used to advance human-machine teaming, including flying in concert with crewed fighters.

“The Department of the Air Force and its partners will analyze the aircraft’s contribution as a force multiplier that extends the reach, awareness, and survivability of crewed platforms in contested environments,” the U.S. Air Force adds.

The MQ-28 involved in the exercise is configured with an infrared search and track (IRST) sensor system in the nose. The Ghost Bat is a highly modular design, with the nose section designed to be readily swappable.

The Ghost Bat’s participation in Valiant Shield comes as Australia continues efforts to mature collaborative combat aircraft concepts, an increasingly important component of future air warfare, with the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) currently very much at the forefront. Designed to operate alongside crewed fighters and other assets, like tankers and airborne early warning and control aircraft, the MQ-28 is intended to extend sensor coverage, serve as a weapons platform, and perform a variety of other missions while reducing risk to human pilots.

Valiant Shield offers a particularly relevant proving ground for the MQ-28. The exercise brings together forces from the United States, Australia, Japan, Canada, and New Zealand to train in responding to coordinated threats across the maritime, air, land, cyber, and space domains. Participants will be required to detect, track, and engage shared threats while operating across a vast geographic area and under realistic conditions.

For the Ghost Bat program, exposure to this type of coalition environment is significant. Future conflicts in the Indo-Pacific will require seamless integration between allied forces, crewed aircraft, and increasingly sophisticated autonomous systems. Observing how the MQ-28 is incorporated into a large-scale multinational exercise should provide valuable insights as Australia moves toward making its collaborative combat aircraft capabilities operational. Currently, the MQ-28 is slated to be in service with the RAAF in 2028, which would likely make it the first operational CCA anywhere in the world.

The exercise also reflects growing allied interest in integrating uncrewed systems into complex command-and-control architectures and air defense networks. As autonomous aircraft move from experimentation toward operational service, events such as Valiant Shield are becoming important venues for testing how these systems contribute to the broader fight rather than operating as standalone assets. Valiant Shield has served as a diverse test crucible in recent years, with advanced capabilities being put through their paces in a realistic, joint-force environment.

According to defense reporter Carter Johnston, the Ghost Bat’s Indo-Pacific deployment will include operations from an austere airfield led by the U.S. Air Force. This will be conducted under the Agile Combat Employment (ACE) concept, something that is seen as fundamental to survival in a future conflict with China in the Indo-Pacific region. It is also notable that the U.S. Air Force’s new CCA drones are being developed from the ground up around concepts for distributed and disaggregated operations.

The exact status of the MQ-28 with the U.S. military testing community is somewhat unclear, as we have discussed before. There have been indications of Ghost Bat flight testing in the United States in the past, and the U.S. Air Force previously said it had made use of at least one MQ-28 to support advanced uncrewed aircraft and autonomy development efforts. Regardless, the Air Force, at least, has test units set up to explore exactly how to use CCAs operationally, including in an ACE-type environment. This kind of testing is now also involving the first two Air Force Increment 1 CCAs, with the YFQ-44 Fury ‘fighter drone’ prototype notably having been tested out of Edwards Air Force Base, California, helping to demonstrate how CCAs can be deployed and sustained in contested environments.

Other U.S. participants in Valiant Shield 2026 include the George Washington Carrier Strike Group, based around the aircraft carrier USS George Washington with the embarked Carrier Air Wing 5, the cruiser USS Robert Smalls, and the destroyers USS Benfold and USS Shoup.

Valiant Shield 2026 will also see the deployment of the containerized Typhon missile system in Japan. According to the Japan Ministry of Defense, the Typhon and the High Mobility Artillery Rocket System (HIMARS) will participate in Joint Integrated Anti-Ship Warfare training carried out in the waters around Kanoya and Amami Oshima Island. However, no live firing is scheduled.

The U.S. Army’s Typhon was first deployed to Japan last year, as you can read about here. The system, which can fire Tomahawk cruise missiles and SM-6 multi-purpose missiles, is a growing feature of U.S. military activities in the wider Indo-Pacific region.

Returning to the Ghost Bat, it now seems that the test flights of the MQ-28 off the coast of southern California from the U.S. Navy’s base in Point Mugu, California, were an important precursor to Valiant Shield. In fact, the same drone that was flown out of Point Mugu, ATS-008, is the example now involved in Valiant Shield.

Boeing had previously said its main goals of those flights were to demonstrate the maturity of the design and promote export sales. As we noted at the time, the choice of testing location also seemed to be relevant given Boeing’s involvement in the Navy’s still-evolving carrier-based CCA plans.

As for the MQ-28’s previous test campaigns, the drone has been flying in Australia since 2021, with the RAAF having received eight Ghost Bats in the pre-production Block 1 configuration.

Boeing is now building the first of a batch of nine Block 2 drones for the RAAF, which will provide an intermediate stepping stone to the fully operational Block 3 version. The Block 3 aircraft is expected to be substantially larger and have a greater range. It will also feature an internal weapons bay that can accommodate a single AIM-120 Advanced Medium Range Air-to-Air Missile (AMRAAM), two GBU-39/B Small Diameter Bombs (SDB), or equivalently sized stores.

The RAAF has employed Block 1 MQ-28s to demonstrate some important capabilities in testing so far. This includes crewed-uncrewed teaming with RAAF E-7A Wedgetail airborne early warning and control aircraft and F/A-18F Super Hornet fighters.

When it comes to potential export sales, participation in Valiant Shield will give Japan, Canada, and New Zealand a closer look at the drone and its capabilities. Of these, Boeing has already publicly named Japan as a potential customer and has said it is exploring potential opportunities with other unnamed countries in the Indo-Pacific region.

Valiant Shield should offer the clearest indication yet of how the Ghost Bat can contribute to a coalition fight. As the United States and its allies increasingly embrace autonomous combat aircraft, the MQ-28’s performance in one of the Indo-Pacific’s largest and most complex military exercises will be watched closely as an indicator of how collaborative combat aircraft could be employed across the region in the future.

Contact the author: thomas@thewarzone.com

Boeing has provided details of the latest iteration of its MQ-28 Ghost Bat collaborative combat aircraft (CCA). Already, the Ghost Bat was the most mature known CCA, but the enhanced version of the drone, the Block 3, has various new features. These include a larger wing and a pair of internal weapons bays, which means it can carry munitions without diminishing its low-observable characteristics.

The MQ-28 Block 3 was revealed today at the ILA Berlin airshow, taking place this week in the German capital. The unveiling was conducted by officials from both Boeing Australia and Germany’s Rheinmetall. The German firm is partnered with Boeing to offer the drone to the German military, as well as to tap into the potentially very lucrative European CCA market.

“This is the aircraft that we are offering to Germany,” MQ-28 Global Program Director, Glen Ferguson, said at the rollout. “This is the third iteration of design now, and we are on point to build out first [Block 3] aircraft next year.”

The previous Block 1 and Block 2 variants have completed more than 150 test sorties in Australia and the United States.

Australia has already acquired eight Block 1 MQ-28s, which are configured as pre-production prototypes.

The first nine Block 2 drones, now in production, are seen as a pathway to an operational capability, which is fully realized in the Block 3.

The Block 3 aircraft features a wing that is 25 percent larger, combined with a thrust increase from 10,000 pounds to 12,000 pounds. It’s not immediately clear how that thrust increase will be achieved, but coupled with greater wing area, it will confer an increased payload capability. This translates into an additional 2,000 pounds of fuel, stores, and mission payloads.

“That additional capacity gives operators freedom to balance payload and endurance to configure for the mission at hand, whether that means carrying extra fuel for longer-range operations, increasing weapons carriage, or any combination of both,” Ferguson said.

The latest iteration of the drone also adds beyond-line-of-sight (BLOS) control. Introduction of BLOS communication links means the MQ-28 can be operated at unlimited standoff distances, whether from a ground station, a naval vessel, or a crewed aircraft. With its range of over 2,000 nautical miles, adding BLOS to the drone also ensures that it can conduct independent operations when not controlled by a crewed aircraft, which was always envisioned as a potential role for Ghost Bat. Having a SATCOM option also opens up better resiliency for control in electronic warfare combat environments.

“Inclusion of features such as BLOS capability is a direct result of our learnings to date along with feedback from air forces as they understand more about the role and integration of CCAs into joint force operations,” Ferguson explained.

As for the critical internal weapons bays, these are added within each side of the slab-side fuselage, shown in a video released by Boeing.

Each bay can carry a single AIM-120 Advanced Medium-Range Air-to-Air Missile (AMRAAM) or two Small Diameter Bomb (SDB) precision-guided munitions. These can comprise either the GBU-39/B SDB I or the GBU-53 SDB II, also known as StormBreaker. The Ghost Bat is the first CCA we have seen capable of carrying AIM-120s internally, a significant development in itself. The option for internal stores carriage is also a huge deal at this point, with Boeing having recently validated its radar cross-section (RCS), proving that the CCA is harder to detect and better able to operate in contested environments.

“The combination of a highly capable platform, stealth features and advanced autonomy provides unprecedented ability for air forces to extend their mission effectiveness and operational flexibility,” said Brad Thompson, director for Phantom Works Australia, after the completion of the RCS trials.

The drone also has provision for three external weapons stations. At least one of these has already been tested, during an end-to-end engagement in which a target drone was brought down by an AMRAAM. The air-to-air role is notably relevant since the drone is also envisaged as a force-protection asset, to defend airborne early warning aircraft and tankers, etc, as well as working with fighter aircraft. Combined with more thrust and larger wings, the external pylons would appear to open up the possibility of flying with as many as five AMRAAMs, and at least four, or with a mixed load of air-to-air and air-to-ground weapons.

For Block 3, Boeing is also known to be working on three or four alternative sensor payloads. Integration of these would be facilitated by the fact that the entire nose can be swapped out to accommodate different payloads.

Bringing the MQ-28 Block 3 from Australia to Berlin reflects the relationship between Boeing Australia and Rheinmetall and the fact that the German Air Force — the Luftwaffe — is being pitched to for its CCA requirement.

“At the moment, we are still in negotiations with the German government, but if they want to have the plane by 2029, my expectation is that by at least next year, we have to go into the final stage of negotiating the contract,” Rheinmetall CEO Armin Papperger told Breaking Defense.

In expectation of a German CCA requirement, the ILA Berlin airshow featured a heavy presence of combat drones.

Also making its public debut was a full-scale model of the Airbus U760 Ravenstorm, a combat drone designed to operate alongside fighter aircraft in air-to-air combat, strike missions, and electronic warfare roles. The new uncrewed aircraft is part of a revamped drone portfolio from the company, and you can read more about it here.

As well as Ravenstorm, Airbus is also offering a Europeanized version of the stealthy XQ-58A Valkyrie, which is apparently being pitched as a lower-cost aircraft and one that offers the option of runway-independent operations.

From the United States, General Atomics Aeronautical Systems presented a full-size model of a drone from its Gambit family, with the company also confirming that it has been in talks with Germany regarding its CCA requirements.

Meanwhile, German firm Helsing revealed a new version of its CA-1 Europa drone — which looks remarkably similar to Ghost Bat. The CA-1EA (for Electronic Attack) follows the CA-1KA (Kinetic Attack) and reflects the high priority Germany attaches to its need for a CCA to accompany its forthcoming Eurofighter EK electronic warfare jets, as well as other combat aircraft.

Boeing is now conducting test flights of its MQ-28 Ghost Bat drone out over the Pacific from the U.S. Navy’s base in Point Mugu, California. The company says its main goals are to demonstrate the maturity of the design, originally developed for Australia, and promote export sales. The specific choice of testing location also seems notable given Boeing’s involvement in the Navy’s still-evolving carrier-based Collaborative Combat Aircraft (CCA) plans.

The MQ-28 has now flown at least three times within the Point Mugu Sea Range off the coast of southern California, according to a Boeing press release. The expansive range is routinely used for a wide array of research and development and test and evaluation activities, as well as training. Naval Air Station Point Mugu, part of Naval Base Ventura County, sits right on the coast, surrounded by farmland, with direct access to the range and minimal risk to bystanders. Its location makes it well suited for uncrewed aircraft operations, and it already has a major role in this regard in relation to the MQ-4C Triton and managing target drones.

MQ-28 first international flights

“This testing shows the MQ-28’s ability to operate seamlessly from allied facilities, which helps Boeing demonstrate the aircraft’s maturity and potential export opportunities to international customers outside Australia,” per the press release from Boeing. “Tests at Point Mugu validate autonomous systems while following required airspace, range safety and regulatory approvals.”

Boeing also described this as “MQ-28’s first international operation in allied airspace,” but it is unclear when the first sortie from Point Mugu occurred.

In December, the Pentagon released a video of Secretary Pete Hegseth visiting Naval Air Station Point Mugu with an MQ-28 clearly visible in the background. However, the drone seen in that footage also had an early-style paint scheme with high-visibility orange trim. Pictures and video that Boeing released along with its announcement of the Point Mugu Sea Range flight testing show a Ghost Bat with a two-tone gray livery. It also has an infrared search and track (IRST) sensor system in the nose, something not seen on the example in the Hegseth video. The MQ-28 is a highly modular design, with the nose section designed to be readily swappable.

There have also at least been indications of Ghost Bat flight testing in the United States in the past. The U.S. Air Force previously said it had made use of at least one MQ-28 to support advanced uncrewed aircraft and autonomy development efforts.

Boeing itself released a picture of an MQ-28, again with the early paint scheme and no IRST, at MidAmerica Airport outside of St. Louis, Missouri, back in 2023. In that instance, the Ghost Bat was displayed alongside the demonstrator the company had been using to support the development of the MQ-25 Stingray tanker drone for the Navy.

How many Ghost Bats are currently in the United States is unknown. TWZ has reached out to Boeing for more information.

The MQ-28 has been flying in Australia since 2021, two years after the design was first shown publicly. Boeing’s subsidiary in Australia had already been working on the design before then under the Royal Australian Air Force’s (RAAF) Airpower Teaming System (ATS) program. To date, RAAF has received eight Ghost Bats in a pre-production Block 1 configuration.

Boeing is now working to build the first of a batch of nine Block 2 drones, which are seen as an intermediate stepping stone to an operational Block 3 version. The Block 3 type is expected to be substantially larger and have greater range. It will also feature an internal weapons bay that could accommodate a single AIM-120 Advanced Medium Range Air-to-Air Missile (AMRAAM), two GBU-39/B Small Diameter Bombs (SDB), or equivalently sized stores.

Boeing and the RAAF have already conducted at least one live-fire AIM-120 launch from a Block 1 Ghost Bat, with the missile having been carried aloft on an external pylon under the drone’s fuselage.

Uncrewed MQ-28 Ghost Bat showcases its combat capability

Block 1 MQ-28s have also been used to demonstrate other important capabilities in testing to date. This includes crewed-uncrewed teaming with RAAF E-7A Wedgetail airborne early warning and control aircraft and F/A-18F Super Hornet fighters. The ability to operate from allied facilities that Boeing says the Point Mugu sorties demonstrate could be valuable just for Australia for future coalition operations.

MQ-28, Wedgetail, Super Hornet: Drone Intercept Behind-the-Scenes

Boeing has also been open about its interest in pursuing sales of the MQ-28 outside of Australia. The company has publicly named Japan as a potential customer and has said it is exploring potential opportunities with other unnamed countries in the Indo-Pacific region. In March, Boeing Australia announced a partnership with Rheinmetall in Germany to pitch the Ghost Bat to that country’s armed forces. A carrier-capable version of the design with a tail hook has been pitched to the United Kingdom in the past, as well.

This latter point brings us to what is largely absent in Boeing’s announcement about MQ-28 flight testing from Point Mugu: the U.S. Navy.

In September 2025, the Navy confirmed that it had awarded Boeing, as well as Anduril, General Atomics, and Northrop Grumman, contracts to develop “conceptual” carrier-based CCA drone designs. At that time, the service also announced that Lockheed Martin was under contract for work on an accompanying common control architecture.

In April 2025, Navy Capt. Ron Flanders, public affairs officer at the Office of the Assistant Secretary of the Navy for Research, Development & Acquisition (RDA), had also told TWZ directly that “the U.S. has expressed strong interest in leveraging the MQ-28’s AI-driven autonomy and modular design for future air combat operations.”

As mentioned, Boeing is also developing the MQ-25, a production representative version of which just flew for the first time in April. Beyond the important aerial refueling and other capabilities the Stingray is set to bring to the Navy’s carrier air wings, the service routinely describes it as a “pathfinder” to future uncrewed aviation capabilities.

MQ-25A Stingray First Flight

All this being said, the Navy’s CCA plans are still very much evolving. The service, by its own admission, has been trailing behind the U.S. Air Force and the U.S. Marine Corps in the development of CCA-type drones.

Flight testing now from Point Mugu is certainly an important development for the MQ-28 program as a whole, and one Boeing hopes could open the door to new opportunities for the Ghost Bat. Whether or not that includes deeper U.S. Navy involvement remains to be seen.

Contact the author: joe@twz.com

SAN DIEGO — The crack of the bat reverberated throughout Petco Park. The crowd let out a collective, “Oh.” And Shohei Ohtani started his trot around the bases.

Padres center fielder Jackson Merrill made a valiant effort to bring back the home run. But after leaping and stretching his entire torso over the top of the wall, the ball fell just out of his reach.

Ohtani, hitting while pitching for the first time in almost four weeks, had homered on the first pitch of the game.

Manager Dave Roberts has held Ohtani out of the batting order for each of his last three starts on the mound, in what’s become a start-by-start decision. But Wednesday, he handled pitching and hitting duties, with immediate positive feedback.

“Obviously it’s a big series, and with the way he’s swinging the bat, I feel it gives us the best chance to win,” Roberts said before the game. “And last week, giving him a couple days off to reset, I thought that was beneficial. We’re on the heels of an off day [Thursday]. So I think all that in total, it just made sense to have him hit today.”

Roberts has also witnessed a “recharged” Ohtani on this trip, as evident on the basepaths and in the batter’s box.

Roberts and Ohtani differ in how much they credit his offensive turnaround to the two-day break from hitting that Roberts gave the two-way phenom last week, versus the progress he was already showing. But Ohtani entered Wednesday with four doubles and 10 hits total in five games against the Angels and Padres.

“I think he’s getting there,” Roberts said before the game. “I wouldn’t say he’s back; I think he’s getting there.”