Rheinmetall and Boeing Australia have entered into a strategic partnership to offer the MQ-28 Ghost Bat as a mature solution for the Bundeswehr’s procurement of collaborative combat aircraft into Germany by 2029.

The MQ-28 Ghost Bat has completed more than 150 flights and has been designed, developed and manufactured in Australia for the Royal Australian Air Force and allied nations.

A proven autonomous CCA, it will act as a force multiplier, teaming with manned platforms to provide combat mass in contested airspace. Its modular design and autonomous behaviours support missions including reconnaissance, electronic warfare and weapons integration.

Under the partnership, Rheinmetall will act as system manager in Germany, overseeing integration into existing and future command and weapon systems, adapting the platform to national requirements and ensuring operational, maintenance and logistical support.

“With Boeing Defence Australia as a partner, we are laying the groundwork to optimally tailor the MQ-28 to the Bundeswehr’s requirements,” says Armin Papperger, CEO of Rheinmetall AG. “As a system integrator, we ensure that integration, operation, and further development come from a single source while simultaneously strengthening industrial value creation in the form of an industrial hub in Germany and Europe. We see revenue potential for Rheinmetall in the range of three-digit millions of euros.”

The partnership supports sovereign industrial capability and supply security in Germany, while enabling a digital development environment where engineers from Germany and Australia collaborate to test and validate upgrades.

“This is not just a partnership between our companies but between two great countries, Germany and Australia, who share a similar strategy for integrating collaborative combat aircraft into their air forces,” says Dr. Brendan Nelson, president of Boeing Global. “Our partnership will see Germany’s industrial base leverage years of Australian innovation and investment to field and evolve MQ-28 for the Bundeswehr.”