The acquisition comes as Australia, like the United States, is increasingly focused on maintaining an edge in beyond-visual-range air combat against China’s rapidly advancing airpower, including long-reaching air-to-air missiles. Looking further ahead, the RAAF’s MQ-28 Ghost Bat collaborative combat aircraft (CCA) is a likely candidate to be armed with JATM. It was designed in response to China’s long-range PL-15 air-to-air missile, restoring the U.S. and allied advantage in beyond-visual-range aerial combat. via Chinese internetThe PL-15 is already widely fielded, while China has also developed even longer-range air-to-air missiles, including the much larger PL-17. Another U.S. response to China’s growing long-range air-to-air missile capability is the AIM-174B, currently carried by U.S. Navy F/A-18E/Fs.