ghost

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

Early in “Romería,” the film’s main character, Marina, is asked by some children if she’s ever seen the Santa Compaña, a collection of ghosts who, in Spanish legend, supposedly wander in a pack across the landscape. Humoring the kids, Marina says she hasn’t. That’s good, one of the girls responds. “They’re spirits that can’t die.”

As it happens, Marina is actually on a journey of sorts to connect with the dead — and so is Spanish writer-director Carla Simón, whose third feature is an autobiographical tale about her own quest to make peace with her late parents. Slender but flecked with magical touches, “Romería” is so gentle it never quite qualifies as haunting. Nonetheless, Simón stirs up the ineffable sadness that comes with wanting answers to the mysteries of your family — and then, like it or not, receiving them.

Newcomer Llúcia Garcia plays Marina, an 18-year-old aspiring filmmaker. It’s July 2004, and she’s traveled to the picturesque port city of Vigo to obtain government paperwork that will make her eligible for a university scholarship. She never knew her father Alfonso, who died in 1987. For some reason, there are no records indicating that she was his daughter. Hence the trip to Vigo to see her paternal grandparents for the first time so she can authenticate her ancestry.

Simón, whose previous features “Summer 1993” and “Alcarràs” also grappled with family matters, follows along with Marina on the way to this anxious meeting. Marina’s mother died only a few years after Alfonso, making Marina an orphan. But the mom’s parting gift, a diary, provides opaque glimpses into her life with Alfonso in the mid-1980s. Before Marina arrives at her grandparents’ home, though, she must run a gauntlet of uncles, aunts and cousins, their reactions to her existence varying from warm to wary. Repeatedly, Marina is told she looks just like her mom, but the comment occasionally contains a trace of bitterness. Many of these new faces view her as an unwelcome reminder of a past they’d prefer to forget. When they see Marina, it’s like they’re looking at a ghost.

The strongest component of Garcia’s doe-like performance is the way it captures someone in the midst of shedding her adolescence, gingerly trying on adulthood. Over the course of a few days, this bashful teen, always armed with her camcorder and far less free-spirited than her cousins, will be beset by her father’s feuding family. Silently observing the passive-aggressive maelstrom, Marina will receive an intense immersion in what her life might have been like if he’d lived.

But she quickly realizes that their memories of the man are far from perfect. No one can decide exactly where Alfonso lived in Vigo. And, more troublingly, Marina’s belief that he died in 1987 is contradicted by relatives, who insist that it was five years later. If Marina has that information wrong, what else does she not know?

“Romería” is hardly the first film in which an impressionable soul goes on the hunt for the parents she never had. Likewise, viewers will not be startled when Marina eventually discovers painful secrets about her mom and dad that cause her to reconsider those phantom figures.

Simón, who undertook a similar odyssey at the same age, never allows this delicate story to succumb to self-indulgence or an inflated sense of its own importance. Instead, her film is suffused with a rich, casual immediacy. Simón and her star bracingly recall the electricity of youth as Marina prepares for life as an artist. The movie, in part, is about how she finds her voice.

Simón’s films favor naturalism and “Romería” leaves ample room for Spain’s seaside beauty and glorious sunshine. The calming locales both complement and contradict the plot’s revelations, which are hardly bombshells but do speak to how well-to-do families labor to shove inconvenient skeletons into the closet. If anything, Marina will be more shocked by her grandparents (José Ángel Egido and Marina Troncoso), whose fiercely icy demeanor suggests this teenager should consider herself lucky not to have grown up around them.

Because “Romería” is a coming-of-age story, Marina will be tempted by cute boys; she’ll also begin to display a rebellious streak. As the picture rolls along, Garcia shows a more assertive side, relishing her character’s emergence from her shell. But this modest saga saves its biggest surprise for its final reels, when the narrative folds in on itself beguilingly, allowing Marina to relate to her mom and dad in ways she never had before. Maybe we can never truly know our parents, but if we’re lucky, we can gain the maturity to one day see them in ourselves.

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

During the Covid pandemic, the airport served as a temporary storage facility for grounded aircraft

Ciudad Real International Airport, in Spain, opened its doors again earlier this year after being abandoned for 14 years. The airport originally opened in 2008 but shut down after filing for bankruptcy in April 2012, earning itself the title of Spain’s “ghost airport”.

The deserted airfield was subsequently used for long-term aircraft storage until the airport’s operator announced its reopening under new ownership, with passenger flights set to resume in 2026. The managing director of Ciudad Real International Airport, Rafael Gómez Arribas, confirmed that the airport will handle only private flights, mainly from Europe and the United States.

The Spanish airport reportedly cost €1billion (£864million) to build and was originally intended to serve as Madrid’s second-largest airport.

Despite this, Ciudad Real Airport struggled as a commercial hub, largely due to its isolated location, some 150 miles from the capital.

The airport boasts one of Europe’s longest runways, a massive 4,100-metre strip built to handle the world’s biggest commercial aircraft, the Airbus A380.

It was originally named Don Quixote Airport after the beloved fictional hero from the classic Spanish novel Don Quixote.

During the Covid pandemic, the airport served as a temporary storage facility for grounded aircraft from major European airlines.

Following its closure in 2012, large yellow crosses were painted over the airport’s runway — a visual warning to pilots indicating that the airport is no longer operational and that the runway is unfit for landing.

The Mirror has contacted Ciudad Real International Airport for comment.

The island’s dark history of forced labour and harrowing conditions for prisoners of war has left a haunting legacy

In the late 19th century, this isolated Japanese island was a bustling town fuelled by its coal-mining industry. Today, it’s gradually being swallowed by the sea and reclaimed by nature, but given the island’s sinister past, perhaps it’s for the best that this once-thriving community has fallen into silence.

Hashima Island sits roughly 15 kilometres off Nagasaki, and was formerly a mining settlement. At its height in the late 1950s, the island housed more than 5,000 residents who lived in its towering apartment blocks — the ruins of which remain visible today.

Initially renowned for its undersea coal mines, the island also harbours a deeply troubling history.

The island was purchased by Mitsubishi in the late 19th century, and in 1916, work commenced on apartment blocks to house workers. There was a school, a kindergarten, a community centre and a hospital.

For leisure, residents could head to the cinema or visit the numerous shops, reports the Express.

Following the end of World War 2, Chinese and Korean prisoners of war were forced to labour on the island, either erecting buildings or toiling in the mines. These prisoners endured appalling and perilous conditions under Mitsubishi’s control.

Many perished from exhaustion and starvation — the precise death toll on the island ranges from 137 to as many as 1,300.

The people who laboured here dubbed the island “Jail Island” or even “Hell Island” — a stark contrast to the tranquil mining town it seemed to be. By the 1970s, coal reserves had largely run dry and the industry was in terminal decline.

This prompted many residents to abandon the island, and by the mid-70s, the mine had shut its doors for good, leaving the island completely deserted.

In 2009, Japan put forward a request for the island to be added to the UNESCO World Heritage List.

The move drew sharp criticism from the governments of North and South Korea and China, with Seoul arguing it would “violate the dignity of the survivors of forced labour”.

Eventually, South Korea and Japan struck a deal allowing the island to be included on the list, on the condition that Japan provided information acknowledging the use of forced labour.

However, in 2021, it emerged that Japan had failed to honour its side of the agreement, having not displayed adequate information regarding the use of forced labour.

The museum in Nagasaki, which documents the island’s history, reportedly contains no testimonies from Koreans about forced labour or discrimination, and the sole Korean testimony on display actually denies that forced labour was ever used.

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.

This once charming village has been abandoned since a tragic accident decades ago.

Just a stone’s throw from one of the world’s most bustling capital cities lies a town that has been eerily silent for four decades, deserted by all those who once made it their home. Goussainville-Vieux Pays sits roughly half an hour’s drive north of Paris, and once upon a time, it was the picture of a quintessential French village.

Yet as the world moved on, a cruel twist of fate consigned Goussainville-Vieux Pays to history. The beginning of the end for this charming French settlement was the scene of a harrowing disaster

In 1973, a Russian aircraft had been performing aerobatic manoeuvres at the Paris Airshow when it stalled at low altitude and came crashing down.

The plane plummeted into the village, claiming 14 lives – including six crew members .

The wreckage obliterated 15 homes and the local school.

In the wake of the devastating incident, the village desperately tried to rebuild, but fate dealt another cruel blow.

The very next year, in 1974, Charles de Gaulle Airport opened its doors, placing Goussainville squarely beneath the flight path of one of Europe’s busiest airports.

The relentless roar of overhead aircraft proved not only an unbearable disruption for local residents, but served as a constant and harrowing reminder of the tragedy that had torn through their community just a year before, reports the Express.

Most villagers simply upped and left, many without even bothering to sell their properties.

The airport was subsequently compelled to purchase more than 100 of the deserted homes and pledged to maintain them.

Sadly, those houses have since been left to crumble.

Among the most arresting sights in this abandoned village are the crumbling remains of a sprawling old manor house, set within an overgrown and neglected garden.

Graffiti has spread across the settlement, and nowadays its only genuine signs of life are inquisitive tourists arriving to catch a glimpse of the village that time forgot.

A European hotel has been described as a ‘ghost town’ because there are no sunbed wars in the morning – all because of a genius solution they’ve come up with

Sunbed wars have become an almost unavoidable part of a holiday at a sunny resort, but guests at one hotel in Europe never have to worry about bagging a prime spot by the pool.

If you’ve ever stayed at a resort with a pool and rows of sun loungers, you’ll know all too well about the early morning scramble to secure a sunbed before heading off for breakfast. This frantic rush typically sees guests charging across the courtyard to toss their towel over a lounger, effectively claiming it for the entire day.

The trouble with sunbed wars, however, is that they not only encourage deeply selfish behaviour that denies fellow guests a fair chance at using the facilities, but they also pose a genuine safety risk, with people running poolside and potentially coming to blows over the best spots.

At one hotel in Cyprus, though, that early morning battle simply doesn’t exist – the resort appears positively “deserted” compared to other venues where daily poolside races are commonplace.

It’s not that the hotel is short of guests, however. The real explanation behind the refreshingly towel-free poolside scene each morning is that the resort has introduced a clever system designed to guarantee every guest a spot by the pool without any of the usual squabbling.

Mark Brown, also known as Right Guys Reviews, recently posted a TikTok video filmed at a hotel during his stay in Paphos, Cyprus. He panned his camera across the sunbeds surrounding a large pool, revealing that not a single one had a towel draped over it – despite it being morning and the majority of guests already seated at breakfast.

He was keen to point out that the pool wasn’t empty simply because the hotel was quiet, claiming it was actually fully booked. Rather, guests at this particular hotel simply have no need to scrap over a sunbed spot.

Mark said: “Honestly, you’d think this was a ghost hotel, and it was actually empty. But if you take a trip over to pool services, you’ll find out now why there’s no towels on the sun loungers.”

He went on to explain that upon checking in, guests are handed plastic “pool towel” exchange cards. Each morning, these are taken down to the pool services kiosk and swapped for towels to use on the sunbeds.

But there’s no mad dash once you’ve got your towel. At the pool services kiosk, guests are also assigned their sunbeds for the day, guaranteed to be theirs regardless, meaning there’s absolutely no need to squabble over the best spot.

Viewers who commented on Mark’s video were thoroughly impressed by the sunbed management system at the unnamed hotel. Many recalled their own battles over sunbeds in the early hours, with the vast majority saying they’d gladly swap the stress for a more relaxed, hotel-managed approach.

One holidaymaker said: “Just been to a five-star resort in Kos with no sunbed management. I had to get up at 6am every day just to secure two sunbeds for me and the wife.”

Another chimed in: “That’s the best way to do it. Booking policy is a brilliant idea.”

A third shared their own experience: “We went to Tenerife a couple of years ago and they allocated beds. It’s brilliant. So much better. You could book for am/pm or all day. Hate it when people put towels on at 7.30 and don’t turn up until 1pm.”

The residents of this village fled in 1943 and never came back, leaving abandoned buildings that have been suspended in time, and access to this spooky area is still restricted during certain times

Imagine waking up one day to a letter telling you that your home is being turned into a military zone and that you need to leave within a month. It’s a fate that befell the 225 residents of Tyneham one winter morning.

In November 1943, Britain was still in the depths of World War 2, and needed a strategic location for military testing. The idyllic Dorset village was close to a military firing range, and its peaceful rural location was deemed perfect for D-Day preparation.

Letters were sent to the 102 occupied properties giving them just a month to move out, with the deadline set just before Christmas, with assurances were made that the evacuation was just a temporary measure.

But, decades later, the village is still uninhabited, and increasingly being lost to nature, as its stone cottages and buildings crumble. You can still visit Tyneham to see this old homes up close, but there are restrictions that still need to be followed to this day.

The village is still owned by the Ministry of Defence and is close to an active military firing range, making it inaccessible at certain times. Walkers will need to check the Gov.UK website to see closure dates, and keep in mind that the village is only available to explore from 9am until dusk.

While many of its buildings have fallen into ruin, the church and school were preserved and have become museums dedicated to telling the unique story of Tyneham. You can see photos of the residents and find out about the families who lived in this village through the years.

Tyneham Farm, which was abandoned for many years, is also in the process of being restored, and you can see the remains of the humble cottages where labourers and shepherds once lived in this peaceful, rural spot. However, the reminders of the end of the idyll are all around; some buildings have bullet holes and shell damage scarring their solid stone walls.

About a 20-minute walk away is Worbarrow Bay, an unspoilt shingle beach on the sweeping Jurassic Coast. It has clear, deep blue waters, making it popular with wild swimmers and snorkellers. At low tide, rock pools full of sea creatures can be explored.

At times such as weekends and school holidays, you can often explore Lulworth Ranges which lie within an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty overlooking the coast. Carry on along the iconic South West Coastal Path and you’ll reach Flower’s Barrow Hillfort, which was built during the iron age. You can still see hut circles where these settlements used to lie.

Nearby, Pondfield Cove is a hidden gem with sand and shingle shores covered in lush green marine vegetation. The sea here is calm and clear, although the sudden depths mean only experienced wild swimming enthusiasts take to the water. However, it’s the perfect place to visit for peaceful fossil hunting away from the crowds.

Have a story you want to share? Email us at webtravel@reachplc.com

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

This remote island was once a thriving town – but now all that remains are ruins.

Hidden away in a far-flung Scottish archipelago lie the remains of a once-bustling settlement, deserted by all who called it home. The island of Hirta in the Outer Hebrides was occupied for 2,000 years, but during the 1930s, its final inhabitants evacuated due to health concerns.

It’s so isolated that it’s often omitted from maps altogether and can only be reached by boat – weather permitting.

It’s one of 40 islands in the St Kilda archipelago and now hosts the world’s largest gannet colony alongside some of the biggest puffin populations. During its inhabited years, islanders depended heavily on these seabirds – not merely for sustenance but for commerce.

They traded every component of the birds from feather to flesh.

Today, the population has vanished but a handful of military structures remain scattered across the island, overshadowing the crumbling stone cottages that once housed the community.

The structures line what was formerly Hirta’s main thoroughfare – now occupied solely by sheep, reports the Express.

Existence there was extraordinarily harsh, with severe weather conditions and scarce resources available.

To stay warm throughout the lengthy winters, inhabitants would bring livestock inside their basic stone dwellings and allow the waste from cattle and sheep to serve as insulation.

At its height in 1851, Hirta was inhabited by 112 people but this number rapidly dwindled over subsequent years.

Medical provision on the island had always been severely restricted, and as visitors began arriving on the isolated outpost as tourists, they introduced unfamiliar illnesses that the islanders were poorly prepared to combat.

During the 1930s, following the death of a young woman from appendicitis and pneumonia — conditions that might have been treatable on the mainland — the inhabitants of Hirta took the difficult decision to abandon the island.

The residents were evacuated by vessel in August that year and transported to mainland Scotland.

Following their local custom, islanders left a plate of oats and an open bible in every dwelling before stepping aboard the ship.

The final surviving former inhabitant of St Kilda, who was eight years old when the island was evacuated, passed away in 2016.

Ali Bastian played Becca Hayton in Channel 4 soap Hollyoaks for six years before the character was brutally murdered in a heartbreaking storyline

A Hollyoaks legend has opened up on being killed off unexpectedly by Channel 4 bosses.

Ali Bastian joined the cast of the popular soap opera back in 2001 as Becca Hayton. At the time, the show was attracting millions of viewers and she found herself at the centre of some of its biggest storylines.

After deciding to leave the show in 2007, the actress admits she initially worried she’d made a huge mistake by walking away at the height of its success. However, she was soon rewarded with a regular role in ITV crime drama The Bill.

Opening up about her time on the soap to new online bingo brand Zingo Bingo, Ali recalled: “I was 19 when I started Hollyoaks, and it was a huge break for me. I’d always really wanted to be an actress. It was something that was just kind of in me.

“Becca went through loads of highs and lows in those six years and as an actor, I got to try loads of different things: comedy and heartbreak! My character, in the end, went through a lot of heartache, but it really challenged me as an actor and the speed as well that soap works at is insane.”

Fans will remember Becca was brutally murdered by her prison cellmate, Fran Hathaway in 2007. She had been sentenced to two years imprisonment for sexual activity with a minor, but the claimant, Justin Burton (Chris Fountain), admitted to lying.

Becca was stabbed shortly after being released, and died in hospital. She was officially exonerated posthumously in July 2007. Opening up on a storyline fans didn’t get to see before her emotinal exit, Ali explained: “If I hadn’t left at that point, I think that the plan was for Becca to return [to Hollyoaks village] and end up with Jake.

“This was a plan that was floated by me, but it was never sort of officially down on paper. By that point, I was also just really ready to go home as well. I’d been in Liverpool for six years and I felt that I was ready for a new start. At that point, I made the decision to leave. That is why that storyline ended how it ended [with Becca being killed off].

“I went home and I had about a month of thinking, ‘Oh my God have I made the biggest mistake here? What’s going to happen?’ Then I got an audition for The Bill. I went in as a guest and actually managed to get a regular role. I got a phone call that night saying, ‘You didn’t get the job, but they want you to come back tomorrow because they’re casting for a new regular’.

“I was like, ‘oh my God!’ I went back to that audition and I got the job and then I started as a regular on that and was there for three years. Our industry is so bonkers. You never know what’s around the corner. One door closes, another opens.”

Over the years, Hollyoaks bosses have brought back several iconic characters from the dead and Ali isn’t ruling out a return as Becca, saying: “I was ready [to leave], but I don’t think I would have chosen to die. I remember when I heard that I was like, ‘Oh, great. That is really the end of that. I’m never coming back’. I was a bit gutted, because I had that sense of knowing there was no way back.

“At the same time, it gave such a strong ending to that storyline and to her journey. I am quite glad I didn’t just disappear into a cupboard and never come out again. I did get a cracking final story. You hope for that, of course, but it did make it feel final!

“I mean, If they wanted me to go back as a ghost, I would definitely consider it. I feel like [Becca’s son] Charlie Dean (Charlie Behan) could do with some guidance. I’d be right in there to be like, ‘what’s going on here?’ That phone call never came. In some ways it’s like it kept me moving forward and kept me doing new things and different things and I’m glad for that too.”

Hollyoaks airs Monday to Wednesday on E4 at 7pm and first look episodes can be streamed Channel 4 from 7am