WINGMAN (MQ-28 GHOST BAT): ONLINE EXHIBITION

                                             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 .

2023 UPDATE: 

February 2023, I have added a new painting Ghost Shadows. 

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. 

Theatre of War Gouache and watercolour on paper 56 x 76 cm 2020

Theatre of War: Terrain Visualisation Gouache on paper 56 x 76 cm 2020

Theatre of War: Smart Team Gouache on paper 56 c 76 cm 2020

Theatre of War: Pattern Recognition Gouache on paper 56 x 76 cm 2020

Verified Landing Site Oil on linen 92 x 112 cm 2021

Future Memory Oil on linen 122 x 137 cm 2021

Artificial Trees: Pulling the Future Towards Us Oil on linen 92 x 112 cm 2021

                                  Theatre of War: Photons Do Not Care Oil on linen 92 x 112 cm 2021

Ghost Shadows Oil on linen 92 x 112 cm 2023

Ghost Sky oil on linen 65 x 112 cm 2023

Force Multiplication Gouache on paper 56 x 76 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

Thank you for viewing,

Kathryn

THEATRE OF WAR: PHOTON

Theatre of War: Photon gouache on paper 56 x76 cm 2021

 

Electromagnetic Spectrum
This is my eighth Theatre of War painting. In this painting I am experimenting with how to think about the increasing interest, taken by militaries and defence departments around the world, in the electromagnetic spectrum (EMS) as an enabler of technology and a domain to dominate. This is particularly evident in policy and strategy documents produced by the US Department of Defence (DoD) in the last two years. An example is the US DoD's Joint Electromagnetic Spectrum Operations, May 2020 statement. 

Photons
All electromagnetic energy is made up of photons travelling at the speed of light. Photons are mass-less particles that travel in a wave-like motion. Each photon has a certain amount of energy which determines different radiation or frequencies. All frequencies in the EMS are created by photons - radio waves have lower energy and therefore longer wavelengths than gamma rays, which have the highest energy and shorter wavelengths. You can learn more at this NASA site. 

Electronic Warfare - Electromagnetic Warfare
As the term electronic warfare becomes a legacy term replaced by the term electromagnetic warfare, I think some focus on photons provides interesting ways to think about how the EMS, as an environment, a domain and a commons, is actively targeted for military-purpose domination. The change in terms is clearly noted in the Joint Electromagnetic Spectrum Operations May, 2020 statement page  GL-9, and the DoD's Electromagnetic Spectrum Superiority Strategy, October 2020, page 26.  

Theatre of War: Photon
In Theatre of War: Photon I have painted six Y photon symbols. They are painted with wavy lines to indicate frequencies. The colours - red, blue, white and grey - were chosen after reading the DoDs Electromagnetic Spectrum Superiority Strategy, October 2020 document. It describes (page 12) where data to "support operations and analysis" will be garnered ie: across a range of military and civilian sensors, equipment, platforms, activities, communications. - from entities/hosts that are hostile or adversary (red), US (blue), coalition or potentially friendly (grey) and commercial or non-military (white)." The photon symbols are painted against a cosmic-like background to indicate a universal force. Although appearing like a wall, the wavy-lined circular shape on the left is meant to shift perspective. 

Photons appeared moments after the Big Bang. They first emitted light and energy at around 300 million years . The EMS is a natural force and environment. It is part of the fabric of the universe. 

In our sphere of Earthly influence, what are the possible outcomes of militarised EMS domain dominance?        

Links to previous Theatre of War paintings are:

Theatre of War: Domain Dominance 

Theatre of War: Ghosts Warn 
Theatre of War: Spectrum  Other links are on this blog post.

Cheers,

Kathryn