The deployment of a high-tech surveillance jet by Australia to the Gulf demonstrates a change in direction when it comes to Canberra’s broader strategy regarding assistance to deter missile and drone attack threats, in addition to highlighting the instability of a region that is in dire need of dialogue and de-escalation. The Prime Minister of Australia, Anthony Albanese, has specifically outlined how an E-7A Wedgetail airborne early warning aircraft will be sent to the region along with defensive munitions being supplied to the United Arab Emirates. According to Canberra, this is a purely defensive mission being conducted to safeguard the airspace of allies and protect Australians and therefore not an escalation of conflict.
The advanced sensor suite and command and control capabilities of the Wedgetail, which make it a unique asset in such a high-stakes theatre of operations, contribute to its unique capabilities as a “flying radar”. The Wedgetail is designed at the base of a modified Boeing 737 airframe with a multi-role electronically scanned array (MESA) top-hat radar and an onboard battle management center. As a result, the Wedgetail is able to simultaneously conduct surveillance over both host nation air and sea operation areas, pass relevant information to fighter aircraft, and coordinate responses to any potentially hostile activities across multiple forces. Therefore, in practical terms, the Wedgetail can detect, track and assist with the classification of all types of targets, including high-speed anti-ship missiles and very low-flying, slow-moving drone swarms at ranges exceeding hundreds of km.
The Australian Defence Force has identified the MESA radar as being able to detect targets over 400 km away, providing long-range detection and tracking capability to the Wedgetail platform. Furthermore, independent assessments have examined the Wedgetail’s capability to provide comprehensive wide-area surveillance data and, when combined with secure data link communications (such as Link-16), enable end users to distribute the surveillance data to ground and other platforms. Besides offering target long-range detection via an airborne platform, the Wedgetail has an array of 10 different mission consoles and includes both air battle managers and electronic surveillance analysts as part of its aircraft crew, enabling it to quickly convert to an airborne command and control (C2) platform with long-lasting situational awareness opportunities over a theatre of operations.
The capability of the Wedgetail in operations is to provide commanders with not just a means to identify threats to their operation but also time; since the Wedgetail is capable of identifying missile launches and tracking missile flight trajectories, it enables the efficient allocation of defensive systems such as interceptor missiles while providing information to warn civilian air traffic. The Australian government has recently indicated that it would be prepared to deploy the Wedgetail in an initial, four-week deployment window with personnel who will not only operate the aircraft but will also help to integrate it into the operational environment with coalition partners in the Gulf region. It is expected that the majority of the Wedgetail-operational coalition forces will be deployed from existing, long-established allied bases within the region, which have established long-term logistical support relationships with the Australian Defence Force.
However, this technological assurance carries with it both political and strategic drawbacks. The presence of airborne early warning systems, as well as aerial missile capability, can deter certain types of attack – however, it can also exacerbate already strained relations with other parties because it does not resolve the underlying issues that have led to the conflict. Experts in defence have warned that any deployment of this type must be very carefully defined and coordinated to avoid unintentional involvement in any larger operations. The Wedgetail will provide a short-term stabilising effect to the air picture, but it cannot replace the fundamental elements necessary to prevent hostilities from starting – such as ceasefire agreements, negotiation channels, and sustainable peace agreements.
Additionally, this case presents some intriguing historical contradictions: The Wedgetail was originally designed as an Australian answer to regional surveillance problems several decades ago and is now being used alongside military forces from both Europe and Asia. Now, in a different area and subject to very different pressures, the Wedgetail will once again be expected to perform the same role of providing situational awareness and command/control capability for coalition defence, demonstrating that while advanced military technology is deployed rapidly, the political/strategic resolution of problems tends to lag behind technology deployment.
The deployment of the Wedgetail surveillance aircraft is illustrative of a fundamental truth that is frequently overlooked by technical briefings: the best defence is an absence of violence. While high-end sensor technology, interceptors, and coordination can reduce the risk of immediate harm, achieving a lasting security solution in the Gulf and elsewhere requires nations to choose dialogue over retaliation and to pursue diplomatic solutions instead of resorting to military force. Until such time as a solution is found, systems such as the Wedgetail will continue to conduct the uncomfortable but necessary task of observing the skies while an anxious public calls out for peace on Earth.
