Aussie spy plane RAAF E-7A Wedgetail critical in Ukraine war

The extraordinary capability of the E-7A Wedgetail and the crew was vital to the war effort in Ukraine. See how it operates.

An Australian spy plane has provided critical early warning to any threat of missile attacks by Russia into Ukraine in a successful six-month deployment working alongside NATO partners.

It comes as ADF ground forces have shifted from training Ukrainian recruits how to fight to training junior leaders how to survive as Defence concedes they are being wiped out in numbers akin to that seen on the battlefields of World War 1.

The RAAF E-7A Wedgetail and 100 ADF personnel were deployed to Germany last year on a six month mission to provide vital overwatch to protect military and humanitarian aid across eastern Europe.

In all, the Wedgetail contingent flew about 250 hours with missions averaging five hours in the air at a time to provide early warnings for potential threats from afar from Russia.

A Royal Australian Air Force E-7A Wedgetail prior to a flight during Operation Kudu in Germany. Picture: Corporal Nicole Dorrett

It operated outside of Russian, Belarusian and Ukrainian airspace but from other air corridors notably from Poland has been giving early warning of air strikes to give ground-based defences time to react.

ADF Chief of Joint Operations Lieutenant General Greg Bilton speaking from Germany said the extraordinary capability of the aircraft and the crew was vital to the war effort.

“Our E7 has been able to deploy here to fill a gap in capability that NATO was unable to meet at the time and frankly I’ve gone to a number of places on my visit here in UK and Europe where the contribution of this capability has been raised in very positive terms,” he said.

Surveillance and control officers at their terminals on a Royal Australian Air Force E-7A Wedgetail aircraft deployed on Operation Kudu in Germany. Image has been digitally altered for security purposes. Picture: Cpl Nicole Dorrett

“We’ve got an illegal invasion of Ukraine by Russia, a significant breach of international law and it is that compelling reason that we need to make a contribution as a nation that supports the international system and our people have come here to protect that and help Ukraine defeat that Russian invasion.”

The Wedgetail contingent has been drawn mostly from 2 Squadron based in Newcastle with support elements including 1 Security Forces Squadron and 1 Combat Communications Squadron from Canberra and elsewhere.

Australian Defence Force Chief of Joint Operations Lieutenant General Greg Bilton. Picture: Dan Peled / NCA NewsWire

Gen. Bilton said over the six-month period the aircraft, flying out of the German Ramstein Air Base, ran a very active mission as part of Operation Kudu which also still has ADF ground forces training Ukrainian soldiers in the UK.

He said the ADF had shifted training of Ukraine recruits to now the middle ranking junior leadership personnel to help them survive on the battlefield.

“The contribution has shifted from recruit training to that leadership training and I think that is very important because the Ukrainian junior leaders have been killed in large numbers, in fact the statistics are not dissimilar to those experienced during the First World War and noting the nature of trench warfare they are going to in Ukraine, the survivability of that leadership is really important to tactical success,” he said, adding his Kudu contingent was doing great work to grow that capability.

Originally published as Aussie spy plane RAAF E-7A Wedgetail critical in Ukraine war