Australia explores European weapons integration for Ghost Bat

The third Boeing MQ-28A Ghost Bat prototype was armed with a live Raytheon AIM-120 AMRAAM for the aircraft's maiden weapons test in December 2025. (AC Ivan Smotrov/Commonwealth of Australia)

Months after the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) and Boeing executed the MQ-28A Ghost Bat Collaborative Combat Aircraft's (CCA's) maiden live-fire weapons test with a US air-to-air missile, the Australian government has announced that it is exploring the integration of UK-origin weapons into the platform.

Speaking after the Australia-UK Defence Industry Dialogue (AUKDID) in London on 23 February, Pat Conroy, the Australian Minister for Defence Industry, said that the government is looking to expand the Ghost Bat's weapons capability “into the European family of weapons”.

According to Conroy, increasing Australia-UK co-operation on CCA was one of the “critical outcomes from the [AUKDID] dialogue”. While Conroy declined to comment on which type of missile is being considered for testing over Australia's weapon ranges, he said that the weapon will be a long-range system.

The Ghost Bat's initial weapons test, conducted in December 2025, involved a Raytheon AIM-120 Advanced Medium-Range Air-to-Air Missile (AMRAAM). The RAAF is an operator of the C and D variants of the missile, procured from the US.

Europe focus

Expanding the Ghost Bat's weapon portfolio into the European family of weapons will also “potentially facilitate exports of [the] Ghost Bat to European countries”, according to Conroy.

“The nature of these weapons [is] that they're often [a] consortium. That means these weapons are used by multiple European nations,” he said. “I wouldn't say that this is a precursor for any particular nation buying the Ghost Bat. It's about us making further investments. So that Ghost Bat is export-ready for multiple nations.”