Page 13 - AVALON 2023 - Day 3 | DAILY NEWS

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PEREGRINES TO COME

HOME TO ROOST SOON

The RAAF is acquiring four modified signals intelligence kit, which are soldier- including aircraft, mission systems, GPS
Gulfstream G550 airborne intelligence, ing on with with No. 10 Squadron till the capability, secure communications, aircraft
surveillance, reconnaissance and elec- Peregrines arrive. defensive systems, spares and support.
tronic warfare (AISREW) aircraft to support Clearly, that figure was reduced from five
land, air and naval forces. The public was Construction of the four airframes was to four.
informed of the procurement of these air- completed in early 2020, and modifica-
craft, known as the MC-55A Peregrine, in tion work on the ‘green’ aircraft has been It appears the acquisition programme is
March 2019. managed by the US Air Force’s 645th running behind schedule, since the acquisi-
Aeronautical Systems Group. tion phase was to be 2017-24. However, the
Project Air 555 has a budget of AUD2.46 first aircraft should be delivered this year.
billion (USD1.75 billion), and they will be Images of a first MC-55A conducting
located at RAAF Base Edinburgh near flights were taken at Gulfstream’s facility New facilities are being built at Edinburgh
Adelaide, under the auspices of the in Savannah, Georgia, in March 2022. These by Lendlease as the main operating base.
Surveillance and Response Group. These were then ferried to the L3Harris facility in However, they will also fly from three for-
Peregrine AISREW aircraft will critically Greenville, Texas, as L3Harris is responsi- ward operating bases at Townsville, Darwin
link platforms such as the F-35A, E-7A ble for modifying the aircraft. and the Coco (Keeling) Islands in the Indian
Wedgetail, EA-18G Growler, naval warships Ocean.
and ground assets. The images showed a ‘canoe’ fairing on the
forward belly, as well as a bulbous tail cone A runway on the Cocos is being strength-
Details of the mission systems aboard fairing. There are also multiple antennas on ened and widened by Fulton Hogan,
these G550s are a bit murky, but they will the top and underside of the fuselage, as with taxiways and aprons, to support
allow the aircraft to intercept, identify, well as the wings. An electro-optic/infrared P-8A Poseidon operations too. Work on
locate and jam a wide range of communica- turret may yet be added to the tail. Peregrine modular support infrastructure
tions and emitters (e.g. air defence radars was to occur from July 2021 till December
and electronic jamming equipment). They The US Defense Security Cooperation 2023 too. The Coco islands are Australian
will be more capable than the two AP-3C Agency announced in 2017 a potential territory 2,750km northwest of Perth, a stra-
Orions equipped with communications and sale to Australia of up to five G550 aircraft, tegic location halfway to Sri Lanka.

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