Wingman (MQ-28 Ghost Bat) Oil on linen 97 x 115 cm 2020
This online 'exhibition' was launched in September 2021. Since then I have made a few updates. In late March 2022 the Loyal Wingman drone was renamed the MQ-28 Ghost Bat. Here's a Boeing Youtube Video and an article in Defence Connect online about the rename.
2024 UPDATE:
I have added two more paintings that feature my versions of Ghost Bat drones. One is Force Multiplication and the other Ghost Sky .
WINGMAN (MQ-28 GHOST BAT): Online exhibition.
September 2021
What prompted me to curate this online exhibition?
A few days ago it was announced that the Royal Australian Air Force and Boeing jointly developed Loyal Wingman drone [MQ-28 Ghost Bat] is proposed to be assembled at the Aerospace and Defence precinct at Wellcamp airport, near Toowoomba, Queensland, Australia. You can read the Queensland Government media statement here.
Wellcamp - Toowoomba
I know the Wellcamp area, but it has changed a lot in recent years! Since local Toowoomba company Wagners built the international airport at Wellcamp, Toowoomba has become a major hub, other than for boarding schools, retired country folk, and specialist medical help. I grew up on my parent's grain farm outside Dalby, about an hour west of Toowoomba. I went to school in Toowoomba for the last part of my secondary schooling. My maternal grandfather's family had a property at Drayton, not far from Wellcamp. My paternal grandmother grew up on a farm very close to Wellcamp, on the other side of Gowrie Mt. My paternal grandfather's first property, after returning from WW1 [Light Horse], was also close by.
Research
As regular readers know I have been researching airborne drones, surveillance systems, and increasingly autonomous systems, for over six years [Update 2024: now nine years]. My current PhD [conferred December 2023] research examines [examined] increasing military interest in the electromagnetic spectrum [EMS] as an enabler of technology, a type of fires [weapon], a manoeuvre space and a domain. The EMS is also an enabler of civilian technology ie: communication, GPS, Internet, Cloud storage, security systems and so much more. So, my PhD research also examines [examined] how signal-enabled connectivity, interconnectivity, and interoperability of systems and devices exposes civilian technology to appropriation by state or non-state militarising forces.
* My PhD thesis is available at Curtin University's [Western Australia] e-space, Drones, Signals, and the Techno-Colonisation of Landscape.
Wingman (Ghost Bat) Paintings
Last year [2020] I started painting images that included the Loyal Wingman drone, Australia's first manufactured military aircraft in over fifty years. Described as a 'gamechanger' in drone technology, the Loyal Wingman [MQ-28 Ghost Bat] is designed to accompany crewed fighter jets. There is a plethora of online commentary about the Ghost Bat drone's capabilities, which include, autonomous
functions, enhanced electronic and electromagnetic capabilities, advanced multi-sensor capabilities, and stealth
design. Interchangeable nose-cones will provide payload dexterity across a crewed and uncrewed teamed mission. The drone is also export-able.
In 2019 I wrote a post Pay Attention: The Drones Are Here where I first mention the Loyal Wingman drone.
WINGMAN - GHOST BAT
THE EXHIBITION
While informed by extensive research, my paintings are speculative and imaginative. They are the result of what I call 'imaginational metaveillance', a 'flight' into imagined cosmic perspectives. This 'flight' is taken without the aid of augmenting or simulation technology. With the benefit of imagined distance, what anomalies can we see as we fly around and beyond drones and their support infrastructure? I say we because I invite you to 'fly' in your imagination too.
The paintings are chronologically displayed, from the first to the most recent
Each painting in the exhibition has a hyperlinked title. Please click on these to read my previous posts about each painting.
Ghost Shadows Oil on linen 92 x 112 cm 2023
WINGMAN: List of Paintings
Wingman April 2020
Theatre of War September 2020
Theatre of War: Terrain Visualisation October 5 2020
Theatre of War: Smart Team October 10 2020
Theatre of War: Pattern Recognition October 27 2020
Verified Landing Site April 2021
Future Memory May 2021
Artificial Trees: Pulling the Future Towards Us June 2021
Theatre of War: Photons Do Not Care July 2021
Ghost Shadows February 2023
Ghost Sky November 2023
Force Multiplication December 2023
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