Air Force Practices CCA Teaming With a Drone It Didn't Buy

Pacific Air Forces released imagery July 2 of a U.S. Air Force F-15EX Eagle II and an MQ-28 Ghost Bat flying in formation over the Philippine Sea during Exercise Valiant Shield 26, marking the first time the service has publicly documented the pairing in a major multinational exercise.

USAF F-15EX with MQ-28 Ghost Bat at Exercise Valiant Shield 2026. Image via USAF Pacific Air Forces Facebook account. pic.twitter.com/rhbnzOvo2u

— Alex Luck (@AlexLuck9) July 2, 2026

PACAF said the flight demonstrated “the future of human-machine teaming in the theater” and that “uncrewed systems act as a force multiplier, extending the reach and effectiveness of human pilots.”

The pairing has a specific operational wrinkle. The MQ-28 is a Boeing Defence Australia product the U.S. Air Force has not selected for procurement. The service awarded Collaborative Combat Aircraft (CCA) Increment 1 production contracts in June to General Atomics for the FQ-42A Dark Merlin and to Anduril for the FQ-44A Fury.

The Ghost Bat is functioning as a surrogate, giving the Air Force’s Nellis-based Experimental Operations Unit practical doctrine and sustainment data for CCA integration before the contracted aircraft arrive.

The F-15EX in the flight belongs to the 85th Test and Evaluation Squadron from Eglin Air Force Base, Florida, which landed at Kadena Air Base, Japan, on June 29. Permanent basing there has slipped to 2027, delayed by a Boeing manufacturing strike that ran from August through November. The Air Force’s FY2027 budget projects a fleet of 267 F-15EXs, up from 129.

The MQ-28 also completed a proof-of-concept Forward Arming and Refueling Point (FARP) operation on June 28 at Rota, Northern Mariana Islands, alongside HC-130J Combat King II and HH-60W Jolly Green II aircraft and members of the Royal Australian Air Force.

Whether the F-15EX pilot was actively controlling the Ghost Bat remains unclear. A PACAF spokesperson told Air & Space Forces Magazine that the command would not discuss “specific flight operations or tactical integration details.”