"Valiant Shield demonstrates our enduring commitment to a free and open Indo-Pacific," Adm. Steve Koehler, commander of U.S. Pacific Fleet, said in a media release.
MQ-28 operations at Rota, Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands
The U.S. Air Force released photos showing an MQ-28 Ghost Bat at Rota on June 21, 2026, where the drone conducted taxi tests and preflight checks as part of Exercise Valiant Shield 2026. Captions attached to the images state the Ghost Bat will be used to advance human-machine teaming and to fly in concert with crewed fighters. The Air Force said the Department of the Air Force and its partners will analyze the aircraft’s contribution as a force multiplier that extends the reach, awareness, and survivability of crewed platforms in contested environments.
Valiant Shield 2026: scale, participants, and training aims
Directed by U.S. Indo-Pacific Command, Valiant Shield 2026 began the week of June 21 and continues through July 1. The exercise brings together forces from the United States, Australia, Japan, Canada, and New Zealand to train across maritime, air, land, cyber, and space domains, requiring participants to detect, track, and engage shared threats across a vast geographic area. U.S. participants include the George Washington Carrier Strike Group, the cruiser USS Robert Smalls, and the destroyers USS Benfold and USS Shoup. The exercise will also deploy a containerized Typhon missile system in Japan, with the Japan Ministry of Defense saying Typhon and HIMARS will participate in Joint Integrated Anti-Ship Warfare training around Kanoya and Amami Oshima Island (no live firing is scheduled).
Configuration and development: IRST, modular nose, and Block roadmap
The Ghost Bat observed at Rota was configured with an infrared search and track (IRST) sensor mounted above the nose; the program emphasizes a highly modular design with a readily swappable nose section. Boeing has flown Ghost Bats in Australia since 2021, and the Royal Australian Air Force has received eight pre-production Block 1 aircraft. Boeing is building a first batch of nine Block 2 drones for the RAAF; the Block 3 is described as substantially larger with greater range and an internal weapons bay able to accommodate a single AIM-120 AMRAAM, two GBU-39/B Small Diameter Bombs, or equivalently sized stores.
Boeing Point Mugu flights, ATS-008, and ACE deployment
Earlier test flights off the southern California coast from the Navy base at Point Mugu were described by Boeing as aimed at demonstrating the maturity of the design and promoting export sales. The same aircraft flown from Point Mugu, identified in reporting as ATS-008, is the example now involved in Valiant Shield. Reporter Carter Johnston noted the Ghost Bat’s Indo-Pacific deployment will include operations from an austere airfield led by the U.S. Air Force under the Agile Combat Employment (ACE) concept. The U.S. Air Force has also used CCAs in testing efforts domestically: reporting referenced first two Air Force Increment 1 CCAs and the YFQ-44 Fury prototype being tested out of Edwards Air Force Base to demonstrate deploy-and-sustain concepts in contested environments.
What this means for the Royal Australian Air Force, the U.S. Air Force, and Boeing
- Royal Australian Air Force: Valiant Shield provides a multinational venue to observe how the Ghost Bat integrates with allied forces and crewed platforms as the RAAF moves toward making collaborative combat aircraft capabilities operational; the MQ-28 is currently slated to be in service with the RAAF in 2028.
- U.S. Air Force: the exercise allows Air Force test units to explore operational concepts for CCAs, including ACE deployments and integration into broader command-and-control and air defense architectures; the service is treating CCAs as part of distributed and disaggregated operations.
- Boeing: Point Mugu flights and ATS-008’s appearance at Valiant Shield serve Boeing’s stated goals of validating autonomous operations, demonstrating rapid allied deployment, and promoting export sales — with Japan already publicly named as a potential customer and other Indo-Pacific opportunities under exploration.
For the MQ-28 program, the significance of Valiant Shield is practical and immediate: the drone is being exercised in a large, multinational, multi-domain environment for the first time, with Australian aviator observers embedded alongside U.S.-led MQ-28 operators and planners. The Department of the Air Force and its partners will now analyze the aircraft’s measured contribution in that setting—while Australia continues its phased Block 1‑to‑Block 3 path toward an expected 2028 entry into service. How the Ghost Bat performs in coalition scenarios will be watched closely as allied forces push autonomous combat aircraft from experimentation toward operational roles.
https://www.twz.com/air/mq-28-ghost-bat-drone-debuts-in-large-force-combat-exercise-in-the-pacific
