Inside the Australian combat mission to destroy ISIS

THIS is where Australia’s Defence Forces are preparing for war in Iraq – and Super Hornet jets are fully loaded with laser-guided missiles ready to be fired.

FA18 4th Combat Mission

IT’S like some Arabian cliche. As we’re walking around the F/A-18F Super Hornet, checking its specs, a sandstorm appears out of nowhere, covering the airfield in fine dust and hazing out the sun.

The last time Australia dropped bombs in combat was 2003, in Operation Iraqi Freedom.

Australia is once again over the skies of Iraq, departing on daily combat missions from an air base in the United Arab Emirates near Dubai, in what Defence bosses promise will be clinical strikes that avoid civilian casualties.

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On a mission ...Royal Australian Air Force F/A18F Super Hornets and one RAAF KC-30A Refueler over northern Iraq. Picture: Gary Ramage

Close up ... RAAF Group Captain Robb with one of the F/A18F jets in the Middle East. Picture: Gary Ramage

As of Friday night, the Super Hornets had flown 14 missions. So far, one jet has dropped two bombs on a “facility”, or building, related to the Islamic state.

Pilots mid-air ... a Royal Australian Air Force F/A18F Super Hornet over northern Iraq. Picture: Gary Ramage

The military has given no more detail than that, declining to say whether it was a place where ISIL fighters took temporary refuge, or a more permanent base. But they have said the strike was “successful”.

The jets fly in pairs on missions that can last up to 10 hours. It’s a long flight for both pilots and Weapons System Operators, who sit on seats without cushioning.

That’s in case they need to hit the ejector seats. Legs could be broken or spines compressed if cushions took up slack as they were shot from the jets.

Ready for war ... Royal Australian Air Force F/A18F Super Hornets and one RAAF KC-30A Refueler flew the Australian Air Task Group’s fourth combat mission over northern Iraq Picture: Gary Ramage

The men giving a guided tour of one of the six F/A-18s Australia has sent to take on ISIL want to be known as Group Captain Rob and Squadron Leader Richard.

There is real concern in the camp that full identification could see families targeted by ISIL supporters back home.

In flight ... a Royal Australian Air Force F/A18F Super Hornet on a combat mission over northern Iraq. Picture: Gary Ramage

Rob talks us through the weaponry of the Super Hornets. Two are currently in the sky and the other four are sitting at rest under what they call the “turtles”, or “clam shells” — the portable hangars scattered across the airstrip.

Home base ... a Royal Australian Air Force F/A18F Super Hornet in the Middle East inside a portable hangar. Picture: Gary Ramage

Under each wing is a laser-guided GBU12 missile and a GPS-guided GBU38 missile, each of them 500lb bombs that are filled with a liquid explosive that hardens and sets.

They also carry Sidewinder air-to-air missiles and AM120 air-to-air missiles, both of which would be used in the event ISIL got hold of its own jets.

Heavily armed ... F/A18 jets loaded with GPS-guided munitions, laser-precision guided munitions, sidewinder heat-seeking missiles, radar-seeking missiles and a 20mm cannon. Picture: Gary Ramage