Drone edge: Rheinmetall and Boeing partner on German MQ-28 Ghost Bat
Rheinmetall and Boeing Australia have formed a strategic partnership to offer the MQ-28 Ghost Bat drone as a mature collaborative combat aircraft solution for the Bundeswehr by 2029 in Germany, aiming to speed deployment while building local industrial capacity. The MQ-28 has completed more than 150 flights and was designed, developed and manufactured in Australia for the Royal Australian Air Force and allied nations. The partnership names Rheinmetall as system manager in Germany to integrate, adapt and sustain the platform for national requirements.
Drone partnership: what it delivers
The accord pairs Boeing’s operational MQ-28 Ghost Bat — described in the partnership materials as the world’s most mature collaborative combat aircraft and developed over eight years in Australia — with Rheinmetall’s 5th‑generation fighter and unmanned systems experience to field capability in Germany. The MQ-28, a proven autonomous CCA, has completed more than 150 flights and is presented as a force multiplier that can team with manned platforms to provide combat mass in contested airspace. Its modular architecture supports reconnaissance, electronic warfare and weapons integration while allowing continuous upgrades and rapid capability growth.
In the arrangement, Rheinmetall will act as system manager for MQ-28 in Germany, overseeing system integration into existing and future command and weapon systems of the Bundeswehr, adaptation to national requirements and ensuring operational, maintenance and logistical support. The partnership also foresees a dedicated in‑country digital environment where engineers from Germany and Australia will test and validate new software and hardware innovations, and it is described as ensuring national and sovereign value creation and supply security in Germany.
Immediate reactions
Armin Papperger, CEO of Rheinmetall AG, said: “With Boeing Defence Australia as a partner, we are laying the groundwork to optimally tailor the MQ-28 to the Bundeswehr’s requirements. 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. “
Dr. Brendan Nelson, president of Boeing Global, said: “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. Our partnership will see Germany’s industrial base leverage years of Australian innovation and investment to field and evolve MQ-28 for the Bundeswehr. “
What’s next
The partners frame the deal as a route to shorten the Bundeswehr’s timeline for fielding a CCA capability by 2029 while growing German content on an Australian‑developed platform. Rheinmetall’s role as system manager is intended to steer integration and sustainment within German command and weapon systems and to anchor industrial activity domestically. The collaboration is set to support joint development, testing and systematic growth of German content on the MQ-28 Ghost Bat.
Rheinmetall is presented in the partnership material as an integrated technology group headquartered in Düsseldorf, founded in 1889, operating across land, air, sea and space domains with around 33, 000 employees at about 180 sites worldwide and listed on the DAX 40 since March 2023; the company generated sales of €9. 9 billion in the 2025 financial year. Developed by Boeing in Australia over the past eight years, the MQ-28 Ghost Bat is positioned as ready to deliver air-to-ground capability to Germany by 2029 and will be supported through a joint German–Australian engineering and testing environment to accelerate capability growth for the drone platform.
