MC-55A Peregrine spy plane: ADF’s new ‘eyes and ears’ in the sky finally arrives

It’s way overdue on its first deadline, but Australia’s new spy plane has finally landed.

Defence Force officials have briefed The Nightly and 7NEWS on the first of four planned Intelligence, Surveillance, Reconnaissance and Electronic Warfare (ISREW) aircraft, arriving at the RAAF’s Edinburgh base north of Adelaide.

It’s the “eyes and ears of the ADF” according to RAAF Air Commander, Air Vice-Marshal Glen Braz.

“We’ve got a cross section of sensors that we can bring to bear to understand where threats may be and where activity may be occurring,” he said.

The MC-55A Peregrine is immediately familiar. It’s a near $2.5 billion project to adapt a popular, long-range business jet, the Gulfstream G550 into a world leading asset for detecting and countering foreign threats.

Hundreds of the G550 airframes are in use worldwide, though the passenger version of the jet went out of production in 2021.

The capabilities of the sensors added to make the Peregrine are a tightly held secret, though Air Vice-Marshal Braz says the new jet “brings additional capability that compliments the E7 and the P8 and the MQ4 Triton”, other aircraft the Defence Force relies on for intelligence and surveillance work.

Defence Industry Minister Pat Conroy said he was “incredibly excited” the new jet is now in Australia.

The minister called it “the most advanced surveillance aircraft in the world”.

“This is a great day for the Air Force, but more importantly, it’s a great day for the nation because it makes us safer,” he said.

Last February, military surveillance of our region flared as an issue with a Chinese naval task group conducting live fire exercises in international waters between Australia and New Zealand.

Commercial pilots were first to recognise the threat to safety.

Neither Mr Conroy nor Air Vice-Marshal Braz would speculate on how the new Peregrine aircraft might improve Australia’s awareness if China plans similar drills in future.

But Air Vice-Marshal Braz was open about Peregrine’s brief.

“It is about seeing threats sooner. It’s about pinpointing where they may be as well,” he said.

To do that, the four Peregrine jets will need to fly across large distances from their South Australian base.

The RAAF has equipped Darwin and the strategic Cocos (Keeling) Islands in the Indian Ocean to cater for the new jets.

At RAAF’s Edinburgh base, the arrival of the first Peregrine is being celebrated.

Group Captain Jim Collisson said the project was a tribute to “more than a decade of hard work from … hundreds of people.”

“To finally see that particular aircraft fly overhead for the base and land, and taxi in, was just spectacular,” he said.

The jet was a long time coming. US authorities cleared the project nine years ago. It was formally announced by the Morrison government seven years ago, but has been plagued by delays since.

Now, Mr Conroy points to a finish line.

“We will have all four aircraft by the end of the year,” he said.

He’s hoping that is one deadline the Peregrine will not miss.