The rapid military modernization undertaken by competing regional powers, alongwith rising tensions with China, has compelled Australia to pursue multi-domain military modernization to strengthen its defense posture. The $930 million MQ-28A Ghost Bat UAV procurement contract awarded to Boeing Defence Australia in December 2025 aims to responds to these challenges by enabling the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) to field more unmanned assets to safeguard Australia’s interests, says GlobalData, a leading data and analytics company.

According to GlobalData’s report, “The Global Military Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAV) Market Forecast 2025-2035“, Australia is anticipated to spend approximately $5.6 billion for the procurement of various types of UAVs from 2025 to 2035. It is projected that approximately 38% of this outlay will be directed towards the acquisition of combat UAVs.

The Ghost Bat’s recent successful engagement of an aerial target using an AIM-120 air-to-air missile has validated the platform’s evolution into a lethal, autonomous, multirole system. As part of its Manned-Unmanned Teaming (MUM-T) role, the low-observable Ghost Bat UAV can execute threat detection and neutralization of targets in autonomous mode using onboard artificial intelligence (AI), making it a formidable aerial platform.

Tushar Mangure, Aerospace & Defense Analyst at GlobalData, comments: “The integration of these UAVs alongside flying formation of manned assets such as the F-35, F/A-18, and E-7 aircraft will provide the RAAF with “distributed lethality”. This will enable the operators on the mothership to deploy the Ghost Bat UAV to execute missions while reducing risks to human pilots in contested airspace. Due to its modular mission package system, the UAV offers users superior operational flexibility. It can be configured to perform various roles, including combat, ISR, and electronic warfare, based on situational requirements.”

In addition to its operational implications, the Ghost Bat UAV program is a testament to the Australian government’s intent to develop and scale the local defense manufacturing ecosystem. Approximately 70% of total program expenditure is expected to be allocated to local firms for technology development, production, and the establishment of resilient domestic supply chains that are critical to enabling indigenous defense manufacturing.

Tushar concludes: “Since the US pivoted toward the Indo-Pacific to counter China’s growing influence, Washington has been pressing regional allies such as Australia to boost defense spending, acquire advanced military capabilities, and maintain high levels of readiness. As the two countries deepen their defense cooperation to pursue shared strategic objectives, the US is expected to induct the MQ-28A Ghost Bat into its own forces. Such a move would create significant export opportunities for Australia and deliver a major boost to its domestic defense manufacturing base.”