Issue 245: Orion

RAAF Orions on patrol

Without seeking or generating much attention and publicity, the RAAF’s Lockheed AP-3C Orion maritime patrol and intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR) force has quietly gone about providing the ADF a critical intelligence gathering capability.

Home based at RAAF Edinburgh on the northern outskirts of Adelaide, 10 and 11SQNs operate 18 upgraded AP-3Cs (plus a single P-3C) beneath 92WG, which in turns comes under the command of Williamtown based Surveillance and Response Group. And while other more glamorous elements of the ADF continue to catch the public eye, 92WG’s two operational squadrons have been continually deployed on operations since 1999, providing an extraordinarily flexible overland and maritime ISR capability.