Boeing Australia has joined hands with Rheinmetall, Germany’s largest arms producer, to formally offer the MQ-28 Ghost Bat uncrewed aircraft to the Luftwaffe. If Germany chooses this Collaborative Combat Aircraft (CCA), it will become its first export customer.

Rheinmetall announced on March 31, 2026, that it reached an agreement with Boeing Australia to jointly offer the drone to the German military. The company noted that the MQ-28 would be presented as “a mature solution for the Bundeswehr’s procurement of CCA into Germany by 2029, and described the Ghost Bat as “a world-leading, proven CCA.”

Notably, the move comes days after Defense Minister Boris Pistorius indicated that the country was considering buying the MQ-28. At the time, the Defense Minister said that a flexible procurement approach would be used in any potential deal, citing recent acquisitions of loitering munitions as evidence that Berlin is moving toward testing equipment in real-world settings before placing orders.

He said, “We tested what they really offer — not just papers or videos,” and emphasized that Germany would go “step by step,” scaling up only if systems functioned, in what is meant to be an effort to boost competition. This should work well given that the MQ-28 is a mature system that has already been extensively tested.

Rheinmetall will act as the “system manager” in Germany, including integrating the MQ-28 with existing and future Bundeswehr command-and-control and weapon systems and adapting it to national or sovereign requirements. Additionally, it will provide in-country maintenance, logistics, and operational support for the uncrewed aircraft.

“With Boeing Defence Australia as a partner, we are laying the groundwork to optimally tailor the MQ-28 to the Bundeswehr’s requirements,” Armin Papperger, CEO of Rheinmetall AG, stated. “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.”