{"id":13981,"date":"2026-07-22T22:28:57","date_gmt":"2026-07-22T22:28:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sawahsolutions.com\/range\/an-australian-cca-flew-in-a-pacific-exercise-boeing-exec-says-its-an-important-first-step\/"},"modified":"2026-07-22T22:28:57","modified_gmt":"2026-07-22T22:28:57","slug":"an-australian-cca-flew-in-a-pacific-exercise-boeing-exec-says-its-an-important-first-step","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sawahsolutions.com\/range\/an-australian-cca-flew-in-a-pacific-exercise-boeing-exec-says-its-an-important-first-step\/","title":{"rendered":"An Australian CCA flew in a Pacific exercise. Boeing exec says it\u2019s an important \u2018first step\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"
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FARNBOROUGH, UK<\/strong>\u2014The first robot wingman to fly with U.S. aircraft in a major multi-national exercise wasn\u2019t among the ones that the Air Force picked for initial-production contracts last month. Instead, it was the MQ-28 Ghost Bat, which is being developed by Boeing for the Australian Royal Air Force\u2014and a company exec hinted that its CCA could have more exercises in its future.<\/p>\n

The Ghost Bat, which made its airshow debut this week here in England, flew last month alongside U.S. and allied forces in Valiant Shield, a large training exercise in the Pacific\u2019s Northern Mariana Islands. On Tuesday, Glen Ferguson, Boeing Defense Australia\u2019s MQ-28 global programs director, told reporters on Tuesday that was the \u201cfirst step\u201d in integrating CCAs into the force. More opportunities are likely on the horizon, he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cAs far as next steps, there\u2019s not too many exercises these days that are single-country exercises, and Valiant Shield wasn\u2019t,\u201d Ferguson said. \u201cThings like Talisman Saber next year\u2014 40,000 people turning up to Australia across the Pacific and Indo region, they\u2019re the opportunities to go and do that. I think you\u2019ll see us, in the Australian Air Force in particular, applying these assets into those exercises as operational capabilities to test and develop their tactics.\u201d<\/p>\n

Two years ago, the Air Force dropped Boeing from the running for the first increment of its CCA program, which in June issued contracts to Anduril and General Atomics instead. Late last year, the service started giving money to companies to develop a second iteration of CCAs. It\u2019s not publicly known whether Boeing is among them, and Ferguson declined to comment on increment two.<\/p>\n

This month, Boeing said in a news release that the Ghost Bat had become \u201cthe first and only collaborative combat aircraft (CCA) deployed to a multinational, joint operational exercise.\u201d \u201cHaving MQ-28 participate in such a significant military training exercise is a first, and this is just the start of demonstrating how advanced human-machine teaming extends the reach and awareness of crewed platforms and enhances joint force operations,\u201d Steve Parker, Boeing Defense, Space and Security\u2019s president and CEO, said in a news release this month.<\/p>\n

Ferguson told reporters that Navy Adm. Sam Paparo, the head of U.S. Indo-Pacific Command, was happy to have a CCA flying in the region.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe feedback from the U.S. government was they were very happy to have a CCA in the Pacific theater,\u201d he said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

In its own press release, the Air Force said the U.S. used Boeing\u2019s CCA appearance to project new capabilities in the Pacific.\u00a0<\/p>\n

“By advancing human-machine teaming, we are increasing our power projection while building a more resilient, capable, and lethal joint force,\u201d U.S. Air Force Maj. Daniel Pesich, the Experimental Operations Unit\u2019s collaborative combat aircraft detachment officer in charge, said in a news release.<\/p>\n

Boeing said in a news release that the drone wingman flew alongside F-35s, F-15EX, HC-130, E-3, E-2D, EA-18G, and RC-135 aircraft. U.S. officials have said they plan to field its first 100 operational CCAs by 2029.<\/p>\n

Other countries are eager to field their first CCAs, too. In addition to the Royal Australian Air Force\u2019s current Ghost Bat orders, Germany is also eyeing Boeing\u2019s drone wingman.<\/p>\n

Germany\u2019s Bundeswehr plans to field its first operational drone wingmen by 2029. Earlier this year, Rheinmetall and Boeing Australia joined together to offer the Ghost Bat as the country\u2019s drone wingman offering. That team expanded last month to include German firms Diehl Defence and Rohde & Schwarz. On Tuesday, HENSOLDT, a German electronics company, announced that it joined Boeing\u2019s Ghost Bat industry team.\n\n<\/svg><\/p>\n<\/div>\n