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AFP, SYDNEY
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Germany is considering Australia’s Ghost Bat robot fighter as it looks to select a combat drone to modernize its air force, German Minister of Defense Boris Pistorius said yesterday.
Germany has said it wants to field hundreds of uncrewed fighter jets by 2029, and would make a decision soon as it considers a range of German, European and US projects developing so-called “collaborative combat aircraft.”
Australia has said it will integrate the Ghost Bat, jointly developed by Boeing Australia and the Royal Australian Air Force, into its military after a successful weapons test last year.
German Minister of Defense Boris Pistorius, left, and Australian Minister for Defence Industry Pat Conroy ride in an armored vehicle during a visit to the Rheinmetall factory near Brisbane, Australia, yesterday.
Photo: AFP
After inspecting the Ghost Bat in Queensland yesterday, Pistorius told reporters that it was a “serious competitor” and Germany would “make a decision as soon as possible.”
Australian sources said that Canberra would consider striking a deal to transfer the technology to Germany to allow the Ghost Bat to be manufactured in Europe.
German company Rheinmetall makes troop carriers in Brisbane under a similar arrangement.
From left, Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) Air Marshal Stephen Chappell, German Minister of Defense Boris Pistorius and Australian Minister for Defence Industry Pat Conroy converse near a Ghost Bat drone during a visit to the RAAF Base Amberley in Ipswich yesterday.
Photo: EPA
Ghost Bat is not subject to strict US defense export controls that other projects involving US partners must navigate to sell to foreign customers, analysts said.
Australia’s vast coastline and small population have spurred its focus on developing robot submarines and fighter jets.
Australian Strategic Policy Institute defense analyst Malcolm Davis said that the Ghost Bat was designed to work alongside a crewed jet and return to base — unlike the cheap kamikaze drones used by Iran and in the Ukraine conflict.
“This is a new type of approach to air power where you have a crewed fighter giving directions to four or five Ghost Bats flying in formation with it,” he said. “It is a robot fighter that is told to go off and patrol that target, shoot that down.”
Uncrewed aircraft would allow Australia to make its air force larger and more powerful at lower cost, he said.
Pistorius said that cheaper, mass-produced drones have proliferated during the Iran and Ukraine conflicts.
“We can’t ignore high-end products as well as low-cost products — we need both,” he said.
