MQ-28 Ghost Bat Makes US-Led Exercise Debut at Valiant Shield

Valiant Shield is a US-led multinational exercise focused on high-intensity operations in the Indo-Pacific. The MQ-28 Ghost Bat, jointly developed by Boeing and the Royal Australian Air Force, is an autonomous uncrewed aircraft designed to operate alongside crewed fighter jets. Its inclusion in the exercise will test whether distributed deployment, sensors and command chains can be integrated in practice.

After Valiant Shield 26 formally began in 2026, the MQ-28 took part in a large-scale US-led joint exercise for the first time and tested crewed-uncrewed teaming alongside a US Air Force F-15EX. The trials focus on autonomous deployment, cross-platform mission coordination and operations across a distributed battlefield. The results will inform the development of future collaborative combat capabilities in the Indo-Pacific.