Category: Defence

Chief of Joint Operations Vice Admiral Justin Jones announced the overseas debut during a visit to Igam Barracks in Lae on 23 April. It is the 11th iteration – and the first in its 22‑year history – to be conducted, in part, outside Australia.

The four-week deployment, announced late last month, will see the aircraft and crew carrying out airborne surveillance of the waters around east Asia to capture evidence of ship-to-ship transfers of resources used for the North Korean nuclear and ballistic missile programs.

The Northrop Grumman-manufactured high altitude, long endurance, remotely piloted aircraft system, labelled online as United States military A57-002 (similar aircraft pictured), arrived at RAAF Base Tindal in the Northern Territory earlier this week.

Works began in early April on the large-scale infrastructure and facilities upgrade, which aims to bolster the base’s operational capacity, safety and resilience.