Press Conference, Sydney

SUBJECTS: MQ-28 Ghost Bat announcement; successful aerial target test; the AUKUS review.

MINISTER FOR DEFENCE INDUSTRY PAT CONROY: MQ-28A Ghost Bat is a broadly collaborative combat aircraft. It is the first military combat aircraft designed and built in Australia in 50 years. It increases the lethality of the Australian Defence Force and reduces the risk to our brave soldiers, sailors and aviators, that are our greatest asset in the defence of the nation. 

The Ghost Bat turns a single fighter into a combat team. It presents hundreds of eyes in the sky for our adversaries to deal with. This is the Aussie born and Aussie made world-leading capability. And it’s not just that we’re in the game – we are ahead of the game in terms of combat drone aircraft.

Today I’m announcing a $1.4 billion funding announcement to move this next generation collaborative combat aircraft from testing and prototyping into production – a $1.4 billion investment in this Aussie born, Aussie made world-leading technology. 

I’m also announcing today that it is our intention for the Ghost Bat to enter into service with the Royal Australian Air Force. This funding announcement includes an initial six additional Block 2 Ghost Bats, as well as one Block 3 Ghost Bat with additional funding and development to bring the next stage of this world-leading technology. Our vision is for a ratio of a minimum of at least three uncrewed aerial platforms to every one crewed combat aircraft. The funding also includes additional investment in new sensors, new command and control systems as well as ground infrastructure. 

Ladies and gentlemen, this is world leading. It’s Aussie made, and that involves a whole network of Australian companies – over 200 Australian companies are involved in the supply chain. There are over 440 direct jobs involved in this project and around 70 per cent of the content is Australian content. 

We’re also announcing today that the MQ-28 Ghost Bat also successfully engaged yesterday an aerial target. Let me turn that into plain language for people: yesterday in a landmark test, not just for Australia but around the world, an MQ-28A Ghost Bat fired an AIM-120 Advanced Medium-Range Air-to-Air Missile. This is the standard medium-range air missile of the Royal Australian Air Force. The Ghost Bat fired an AIM-120 AMRAAM and successfully destroyed a Phoenix jet target drone. 

This is a landmark and is something we should be really proud of, and I want to pay tribute to the air force, the broader ADF, Boeing and our partners in the United States who were able to make this happen. 

So, ladies and gentlemen, when we talk about the future of aerial combat, when we talk about the future of drone warfare, the future is here and the future is right now in Australia with Aussie made world-leading capabilities like the Ghost Bat. 

I’ll invite the Chief of Air Force to make some remarks and Amy, then we’ll open up to questions. 

AIR MARSHAL STEPHEN CHAPPELL: Minister, thank you very much. Ladies and gentlemen, yesterday marks the culmination of our capability demonstration phase of the MQ‑28. A number of activities over the course of this year has seen the MQ-28 both fly and operate in the Woomera Test Range, deploy and operate from one of our main operating bases in RAAF Base Tindal in the second quarter of this year. And in team with E-7 Wedgetail aircraft where an operator in the E-7 controlled two MQ-28s simultaneously during an illustrative, sort of, a combat mission. And yesterday, as the minister just announced, we had an E-7 in custodianship of the MQ-28 alongside F/A-18F Super Hornets, a target designated handoff to E-7, the target and then the custodian of the E-7 provided the command authorities for the MQ-28 to deploy, engage and fire an air-to-air weapon and downed successfully the target aircraft. So a full combat replication test very successfully achieved and a world-leading demonstration of our MQ-28 and its combat capabilities in a repeat environment. 

I want to pay tribute to our aviators in the Royal Australian Air Force and the Capability Acquisition Sustainment group, our Australian Public Service team mates in both CASG and the Defence Cyber Technology Group, as well as our industry team mates in Boeing Defence Australia and other parts of industry who have pulled together and literally in a first in half a century designed and produced a combat aircraft in Australia that is at the leading edge of collaborative combat aircraft capabilities worldwide. Thank you. 

AMY LIST: Thank you, Minister Conroy and Air Marshal Chappell. It’s great to be here on such an important day for the capability with both this significant milestone event and the major contract announcement. As you’ve just heard, Boeing has been awarded a further contract to be able to design, develop and support the next tranche of MQ-28 aircraft. This is off the back of a number of capability demonstrations that have shown its applicability within the force and its maturity as a capability. 

Importantly, this commitment from the Australian Government provides certainty to Australian industry in the future of sovereign aircraft manufacture and production. We’re incredibly proud of our achievements to date, and our partnership with the Commonwealth of Australia, the Royal Australian Air Force and our over 200 industry partners who work hard each and every day to make this capability a reality. I’d like to thank the Australian Government for having confidence in all of us. It’s a true testimony of Australian ingenuity. 

And in breaking news, yesterday the MQ-28 completed a weapons engagement and destruction of an airborne target. The MQ-28 teamed with an F/A-18 Super Hornet and an E-7A Wedgetail aircraft to collaboratively perform a linked end-to-end counter air mission. This is the first of its kind and truly a demonstration of what the future of air combat will look like. 

This scenario was representative of a real-world mission, and we believe this milestone, along with all of the other capability demonstrations that we’ve shown in operationally relevant environments, firmly demonstrates the MQ-28 collaborative combat aircraft as the most mature capability in the world.

Our mission success along with this new contract will accelerate operational development of the capability and cements Boeing’s international leadership in CCA capabilities. We look forward to delivering on this important capability for Australia. Thank you. 

MINISTER CONROY: Thanks, Amy. I’ll invite questions on today’s announcement first and then I’ll be happy to answer questions of the day separately. Matthew. 

JOURNALIST: Will all the Ghost Bats you’re acquiring be armed and ready for combat? And, secondly, will Australia be exporting them to other countries, including the US? 

MINISTER CONROY: The first part of your question – and I’ll invite the Chief to supplement it – is that they will have the capability. One of the great strengths of the Ghost Bat is that it’s modular in its mission approach. You can sub on different sensor packages, including, for example, infrared search and track, and they have a capability to carry missiles as well. So, our intention is that they have the option so that every time a potential adversary sees a Ghost Bat, they won’t be sure whether it’s in a sensing mode or an air-to-air combat mode. These can be launched – they can be transported via containers, and they have a very short take-off and landing, so we can position these to the north of Australia to really pose questions in potential adversaries’ minds. 

In terms of exports, this is one of our five initial campaigns for the Australian Defence Strategic Sales Office that we announced in March this year. It’s our intention to sell this to allies and like-minded partners where there’s interest. We’re working very hard in conjunction with Boeing on that. There’s a lot of interest around the world. As I said, we are leading the world in this technology. First aircraft – first combat aircraft designed and built in this country in 50 years, and we’re leading the world in terms of these collaborative combat aircraft. And our intention is to export them to like-minded allies if there is sufficient interest. 

Chief, anything you want to add? 

STEPHEN CHAPPELL: Yeah, thanks, Minister. So as the name implies – collaborative combat aircraft – these aircraft we will have the options to configure to both a variety of sensor packages in the nose as well as arms capabilities there as well. This will, as the minister described, provide dilemma, but more importantly it will provide three things. It’s going to give us the combat mass to contribute further to the integrated forces strategy of denial. It’s going to give us enhanced lethality of our crewed platforms. And it’s going to give us enhanced survivability of our crewed platforms as well. So, a real force multiplier and combat mass in a way that we haven’t previously had in the Royal Australian Air Force. 

JOURNALIST: Can I ask, what’s the timeline for the next phase, the production phase? 

MINISTER CONROY: So, we – the Block 2 aircraft are into production next year with the first ones from a previous contract rolling off the line by the end of 2026 with the intention of the six additional Block 2 aircraft to follow afterwards. But the first Block 2 will be produced by the end of 2026. 

Importantly, we’re also transitioning production from our historical Boeing – they own it – historic Fishermans Bend production facility that built the aircraft as way back as in World War II to the new purpose-built facility at Wellcamp outside of Brisbane. So, this is part of the transition to the full production system for Ghost Bat. 

Any other questions about today’s announcement? 

JOURNALIST: I’ve got one on the phone. 

MINISTER CONROY: Go ahead. 

JOURNALIST: All right. I just wanted to speak to you about this timeline, too. So, you mentioned that you’re going to start off with the initial six and then you sort of have aspirations of having at least two or three to protect each crewed aircraft. How long does it take to produce a single unit, and when you do you think in the future, you’ll be able to reach those kind of numbers you aspire to? 

MINISTER CONROY: I’ll invite Amy to contribute on the production timelines. But part of this is a function of the ongoing development moving into Block 3 as well. And as we build scale both through our demand and potential demand from export customers, we can bring down the cost of each platform. The goal is for each Ghost Bat to cost 10 per cent of a crewed combat aircraft. And obviously the closer we get to that the more we can order so that we can get that combat mass that the Chief of Air Force was talking about. 

Amy, did you want to add on production timelines? 

AMY LIST: Thanks for the question. I’m not going to give specifics about production timelines because it is dependent on a whole range of different factors. But what I will say is that the production system that we’ve designed has been designed to be scaleable such that we can ramp to meet growing demand but not over invest in a way that means that we’re building structures that won’t be necessary. We’re really focused on making sure that we have the capacity in the system to meet the demand not only of the Australian Government but also of our future export customers. Thank you. 

MINISTER CONROY: Any other questions about today’s announcement? Going once? Going twice? Thanks, Stephen. Thanks, Amy. Happy to answer questions of the day. 

JOURNALIST: By any measure Australian taxpayers are investing a lot of money in AUKUS. Don’t they deserve some transparency or knowledge about what is in the Colby review, if Australia is signing up to it, even if it might be a US initiative? 

MINISTER CONROY: Well, I’ll respond in two ways: one, the Pentagon review confirms what President Trump said in his meeting with Prime Minister Albanese – that we’re full steam ahead with AUKUS and we’re getting on with the job of meeting all the milestones involved here. 

In terms of release of that review, that’s a question for the US Government. That’s a question that should be directed to the US Government. We conducted our own review of AUKUS through the Defence Strategic Review, and the Australian public understood our approach out of that. But questions about whether they release the review is a matter for them. 

JOURNALIST: Will there be meaningful changes from what had been announced before the review happened? 

MINISTER CONROY: Well, as was said by the Deputy Prime Minister in the United States, we’re always looking at ways of improving AUKUS. If there’s recommendations that come out of the review that improve AUKUS, then of course we’re going to engage with that. This is a living, breathing document. AUKUS is a multi-decadienal commitment. It will outlast governments of all persuasions. In fact, it has outlasted governments of all three countries. You can expect us to be really focused on continuing to improve it as time goes on. 

Any other questions? 

JOURNALIST: I’d love to jump in, if that’s okay? 

MINISTER CONROY: Go ahead, Olivia. 

JOURNALIST: So, Mr Conroy, DFAT and Defence have been briefing Pacific nations about the Chinese Naval Task Group which Defence have been monitoring. Can you confirm this flotilla is now heading towards the South Pacific? 

MINISTER CONROY: I’ve got nothing to add beyond what the Chief of Defence Force said last week – that we are monitoring it and it is last reported in the Philippine Sea. So, I’ve got nothing to update in terms of substance. But we’ll continue to monitor it, and when we need to update the Australian people, we will. 

JOURNALIST: Okay. And at AUSMIN Richard Marles revealed we’ve agreed to see the prepositioning of significant American assets in Australia that include the Ospreys. Do these assets also include air and missile defence systems? 

MINISTER CONROY: I’m not going to get into details of things that weren’t in a communique either to confirm questions or say that they’re wrong. We announced that we would be supporting the prepositioning Osprey in between marine rotation forces. We announced in previous AUSMIN communiques that there were other stores that were being stored in Australia. I’m leave those details to speak for themselves. 

JOURNALIST: Is it appropriate for government ministers to charge taxpayers to leave Comcars waiting while they go to sporting events? 

MINISTER CONROY: The most important thing I can say about that is that the rules that govern politicians’ use of entitlements aren’t determined by politicians; they’re established by the independent organisation known as IPEA. They established the guidelines. They monitor and enforce those rules, and that’s the way it should be. I don’t think the Australian public would expect or would want politicians to set our own rules in terms of entitlements or police them. That’s why it’s completely independent, and all travel has been declared in the appropriate way and has been within guidelines. 

JOURNALIST: Have you ever done that? 

MINISTER CONROY: I have ever? 

JOURNALIST: Charged a waiting Comcar for hours at a time? 

MINISTER CONROY: All my use of Comcars has been within the appropriate IPEA guidelines and has always been about preserving and protecting taxpayers’ funds. Thank you, everyone. 

ENDS