A Royal Australian Air Force E-7A Wedgetail aircraft has arrived in the Middle East as part of Australia’s contribution to the US-led global coalition against Daesh.
Defence Minister Linda Reynolds said the deployment of the E7-A Wedgetail will support the Iraqi Security Forces (ISF) in their ongoing fight against terrorism in Iraq.
“The ISF is leading operations to prevent the re-emergence of Daesh in Iraq and in repelling incursions by Daesh into Iraq’s sovereign territory,” Senator Reynolds said.
“Australia has made a significant and continuous contribution to the global coalition against Daesh in Iraq and Syria and continues to provide support to Iraq to ensure progress is sustained.”
The aircraft has been deployed to the Air Task Group several times since October 2014.
As an airborne early warning and control platform, the E-7A Wedgetail can gather information from a variety of sources, analyse it and communicate this information to friendly air and surface assets.
The E-7A Wedgetail will join the KC-30A Multi Role Tanker Transport aircraft currently providing air-to-air refuelling capability to a variety of coalition aircraft supporting operations in Iraq and Syria as part of the Australian Defence Force’s Operation Okra.
Australian Department of Defence
September 12, 2019