Australia begins northern operations with MC-55A Peregrine

Technicians from No 10 Squadron prepare a Royal Australian Air Force MC-55A Peregrine for a sortie at RAAF Base Darwin in June 2026. (Commonwealth of Australia/CPL Ryan Howell)

The Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) has conducted its first operations from northern Australia with the newly acquired L3Harris Technologies MC-55A Peregrine.

The Australian Department of Defence (DoD) said on 26 June that an MC-55A assigned to No 10 Squadron was forward deployed to RAAF Base Darwin in early June to undertake operational test and evaluation (OT&E) flights.

“[The] OT&E flights provide the initial air force testing of the aircraft and support systems, and contribute to [the Australian Defence Force's] real-time picture of the region, including Australia's maritime approaches,” the DoD said.

The flights are “similar to maritime surveillance flights conducted by [Boeing] P-8A Poseidons” in RAAF service, the DoD added.

The Peregrine is based on a modified Gulfstream G550 business jet. The baseline platform has a range of about 6,750 n miles, and a service ceiling of 51,000 ft.

Director General Air Command Operations Air Commodore Peter Robinson said the MC-55A complements existing RAAF capabilities, including the P-8A Poseidon and Northrop MQ-4C Triton high altitude long endurance (HALE) remotely piloted aircraft systems (RPAS).

This allows the DoD “to maintain persistent situational awareness of our primary area of military interest”, ACM Robinson said.

Australia received the first of four ordered Peregrines in January 2026 and the second in March. On 12 June, the RAAF announced the arrival of the third aircraft at RAAF Base Edinburgh, the fleet's primary base. Photographs released by the DoD identified the third aircraft as carrying the US civil registration N540GA.