Boeing MQ-28 Ghost Bat Flew With F-35 and F-15EX at Valiant Shield 2026
Boeing has disclosed that its Australian-developed MQ-28 Ghost Bat uncrewed combat aircraft flew alongside F-35 and F-15EX fighters during Exercise Valiant Shield 2026 in the Indo-Pacific.
Boeing has disclosed that its Australian-developed MQ-28 Ghost Bat uncrewed combat aircraft operated alongside F-35 and F-15EX fighters during Exercise Valiant Shield 2026 in the Indo-Pacific. The company revealed the June flights on 7 July.
The event marked the Ghost Bat’s first known integration into a major US-led multinational exercise. It flew in the same operating environment as the F-35, F-15EX, E-3, E-2D, EA-18G, RC-135 and HC-130.
The loyal-wingman concept
The MQ-28 sits in the collaborative combat aircraft (CCA) category, commonly called a loyal wingman. Such systems fly beside a crewed fighter and take on reconnaissance, electronic-warfare and engagement tasks, adding combat mass without exposing a pilot. Operating under human authorisation, the aircraft fired an AIM-120 AMRAAM in December 2025, demonstrating beyond-visual-range engagement.
Boeing figures put the MQ-28’s range above 2,000 nautical miles, speed up to Mach 0.9 and ceiling above 40,000 feet. Its modular nose and open architecture allow different sensors and payloads to be integrated.
The Indo-Pacific distance problem
The exercise tested not just flight performance but deployment logistics, sustainment and integrated operations. Across the vast Indo-Pacific, pushing sensors, weapons and decision nodes forward without proportionally increasing pilot exposure is a critical need, and loyal wingmen are positioned to answer it.
Türkiye read
Manned-unmanned teaming is an area Türkiye is investing in too. Projects such as the KIZILELMA uncrewed combat aircraft and the ANKA-3 show that loyal-wingman and autonomous-fighter concepts have become a global trend. The MQ-28’s maturation offers a closely watched case for how such systems will be folded into doctrine.
Sources: Boeing statements and public defence outlets.
