MQ-28, Wedgetail, Super Hornet- Drone Intercept Behind-the-Scenes.

On December 8, 2025, we achieved the integration, test and employment of an air-to-air missile off an MQ-28. It was a complicated mission. We actually did a missile shot that was integrated into the complete weapons system, including integrating with an F-18 that targeted, and an E-7 that authorised and managed the elements of the flow to achieve the mission. The MQ-28 then, given its guidance about the mission it was sought to achieve, was provided with authority to engage and guided an MRAM missile to destroy that target. The future of air warfare involves at least four key areas that were demonstrated on December 8. One is autonomy. The future of air warfare includes autonomy, and the MQ-28 is a fully On the mission on December 8, the MQ-28 received only four major commands. The first was to take off. The second was to go establish an orbit in a defensive counter-air patrol. The third was to leave the cap and go autonomously intercept the target. And the fourth was to arm its system and release its weapons when it got on firing parameters. Everything else the MQ-28 did on its own. The second major area for the future of air warfare is humans in the loop, especially when employing lethal force. The F-18 Hornet sensed and tracked the target and handed that target off to the connected airborne counter-air package, which included the E-7 and the MQ-28. The third area is open systems architecture. The MQ-28 is compliant with U.S. and allied standards and is fully represented in the digital environment. This enabled the team to rapidly adapt the MQ-28 for a new mission. That included integrating a weapons launcher for the first time, adding a storage management computer, and onboarding third-party air-to-air mission planning skills to conduct the intercept, as well as integrating both tactical and weapons data links. The fourth and final area that's critical for the future of air warfare is we have to think differently, challenge the status quo, and leverage collaboration across all of our strengths to bring dominant capability faster. And the team demonstrated that. As an example, due to the time difference in Australia and the U.S., we were able to develop software around the clock, literally handing off the software each night and each morning and developing at a speed we've never seen. This demonstrates that Boeing is a leader in the autonomous system market. But what I really like about the Ghostbat program is this is Aussie ingenuity with bold technical leadership, with a little bit of Phantomworks magic thrown in. It demonstrates that we understand what the future battle space needs to look like, and it goes to the technical prowess of our people. I think we're at the very pinnacle here. We're really pushing the bounds of what these type of capabilities can do together, and I just couldn't be prouder of the entire team.