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Australia’s Spy Plane Wedgetail Flew 45 Missions Near Ukraine. Here’s Why
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![Photo of Ivan Khomenko]( "Photo of Ivan Khomenko")
The Royal Australian Air Force’s E-7A Wedgetail early warning and control aircraft has completed 45 missions in European airspace since July, supporting NATO operations related to Ukraine’s defense and monitoring Russian aerial activity.
According to ABC News Australia, the Wedgetail was deployed to Poland as part of Operation Kudu, where its missions included both scheduled patrols and rapid responses to emerging threats.
The Australian Ministry of Defense confirmed that roughly half of these flights focused on monitoring logistics corridors used for delivering international military aid to Ukraine.
The Defense Post reported that other missions were reactive, launched in response to specific incidents — such as the September violation of Estonian airspace by Russian MiG-31 fighter jets and subsequent missile and drone strikes targeting Ukrainian cities.
The E-7A Wedgetail, equipped with an advanced radar system capable of detecting aircraft at distances of up to 400 kilometers, played a key role in coordinating air surveillance efforts among NATO partners.
Its deployment coincided with the first recorded Russian use of Gerbera-type decoy drones over Poland, which the Australian aircraft reportedly helped monitor.
This was the first time the Royal Australian Air Force stationed a Wedgetail in Poland, following an earlier six-month deployment to Germany in 2023.
The aircraft and its crew recently concluded their European rotation, returning via Melsbroek Air Base in Brussels before heading back to their home base in Williamtown, near Newcastle, Australia.
While the Wedgetail program remains active in allied service, Defense Express previously noted that the United States Air Force decided to cancel its own procurement plans for the platform, citing a strategic shift toward newer surveillance technologies.
Earlier, a UK Royal Air Force RC-135W Rivet Joint surveillance aircraft conducted a visible patrol around Russia’s Kaliningrad region, part of NATO’s ongoing intelligence-gathering efforts along its eastern flank.
