Overview
- The RAAF E-7A Wedgetail has concluded its three-month Operation KUDU secondment and is returning to Australia after operating from Poland at the request of NATO and Polish authorities.
- Across 45 sorties, roughly half were emergency scrambles, providing long-range surveillance, communications and early warning with a radar range of about 400 kilometres.
- The aircraft was on station during a 12-minute Russian MiG incursion into Estonian airspace on 19 September and during heavy drone and ballistic missile attacks on Ukraine on 28 September.
- About 90 Australian personnel rotated through the deployment, integrating into NATO command structures to protect logistics hubs and deter strikes on routes delivering international aid to Ukraine.
- A Turkish Wedgetail will now take over the mission as NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte praised Australia’s contribution, with Canberra signaling continued support to Ukraine including training and forthcoming Abrams deliveries.