Boeing used ILA Berlin 2026 on June 10 to unveil a heavily upgraded Block 3 of its MQ-28 Ghost Bat collaborative combat aircraft and to widen its German industrial team, adding Diehl Defence and Rohde & Schwarz alongside lead partner Rheinmetall AG. The lineup positions the Ghost Bat as a credible offering for the Luftwaffe's planned Collaborative Combat Aircraft (CCA) requirement.
What's new in Block 3
Block 3 keeps the Ghost Bat's twin-tail, low-observable airframe but is meaningfully bigger and harder-hitting. Boeing said the new variant has a 25% larger wing by area for more payload, increased thrust from 10,000 lb to 12,000 lb, beyond-line-of-sight (BLOS) control links, and two internal weapons bays sized to carry two RTX AIM-120 AMRAAMs plus four GBU-39 Small Diameter Bombs or RTX GBU-53 StormBreakers. Range remains around 2,000 nautical miles, top speed Mach 0.9, with a service ceiling above 40,000 ft.
A German industrial team takes shape
Rheinmetall stays in the systems-integration lead role on the German team, marrying the airframe to local mission systems, ground infrastructure and through-life support. Diehl Defence brings air-to-air and ground-attack munition integration plus mission systems experience from the IRIS-T family, while Rohde & Schwarz adds secure software-defined radios, electronic warfare and crypto. The expanded team is aimed squarely at the Bundeswehr's CCA procurement targeted for 2029, supporting Eurofighter, F-35 and a future GCAP/Next-Gen platform.
From Australian launch to European platform
The MQ-28 was originally developed by Boeing Defence Australia for the Royal Australian Air Force and has now flown more than 150 test sorties across Block 1 and Block 2 variants in Australia and the US. RAAF service entry remains scheduled for 2028, which would still make it the first operational collaborative combat aircraft anywhere. The Block 3 reveal at ILA Berlin is Boeing's clearest signal yet that the aircraft is no longer an Australia-only programme.
For more on European CCAs and uncrewed combat aircraft, see Airbus's U760 Ravenstorm UCCA, Helsing's CA-1EA electronic-attack drone and American Rheinmetall's Harbinger UGV team-up.
Reporting based on Boeing's ILA Berlin press materials and follow-up coverage in Janes, Bloomberg and The Drive's TWZ.