<div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><strong><span>EXCLUSIVE:</span></strong><span> Deployment to the </span><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/middle-east" rel="" target="_blank" title="Middle East"><span>Middle East</span></a><span> felt truly real for RAAF pilot "H" a few weeks back when he saw missiles shooting across the sky in front of his hi-tech surveillance plane.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"A little confronting," he told this masthead.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"Definitely a sight that I never really thought I would see."</span></div></div><div><div id="adspot-mobile-medium"></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><strong><span>READ MORE: </span></strong><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/national/prime-minister-anthony-albanese-denies-offering-help-to-remaining-isis-bride-group-seeking-to-return-to-australia/c9a7af18-f861-4a83-a5e0-6ac2945bad6b" rel="" target="_blank" title=""><strong><span>PM denies helping remaining ISIS brides to return to Australia</span></strong></a></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>We are sitting in the cockpit of his E-7 Wedgetail, parked on the apron of an airstrip at a secret location in the Middle East.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"Out the window, up the front here, as we were flying some of those missions, we were seeing some of those ballistic missiles coming out of Iran," H said.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"They are quite bright, and they go very high in the sky – very surreal seeing that from the air."</span></div></div><div><div class="OUTBRAIN" data-reactroot="" data-src="//www.9news.com.au/national/inside-australias-defence-mission-from-a-secret-location-in-the-middle-east/f7a662df-9bb2-4e26-8b63-fe44f46baa5b" data-widget-id="AR_5"></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>About 80 </span><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/defence" rel="" target="_blank" title="Defence "><span>Defence</span></a><span> personnel have been based here since early March, conducting more than 40 missions to detect Iranian drones and missiles to help protect the United Arab Emirates.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Squadron Leader H, as we have been asked to call him, is the commander of the task unit.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>He always wanted to be a pilot and he has the quiet confidence of a man who must have sensed he'd always get to live his dream.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Perhaps that's what gives him maturity beyond his years.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>With a fetching charm and an Errol Flynn moustache, H has a family back home — a wife and two kids — but for the past 10 weeks or so, his family has been a bunch of young professionals who are having the adventure of their lives.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Two-thirds are on their first deployment and most are in their 20s and 30s.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><strong><span>READ MORE: </span></strong><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/national/federal-budget-2026-aussie-business-owners-unite-against-pms-tax-reform/161fefc4-6127-4b59-a159-6c688e0c7dda" rel="" target="_blank" title=""><strong><span>Aussie business owners unite against PM's 'aspiration ambush'</span></strong></a></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>They have job titles that reflect the lingo of clinical modern warfare: air battle managers, mission aircrew, force protection and air surveillance operators.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Others simply call themselves IT experts or electricians, but one nuggety fellow describes himself as an expert in survival, should there be an emergency on the ground or in the air.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>The E-7 Wedgetail is at the heart of this deployment. A mission can be as long as 12 hours, with air-to-air refuelling.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>But the surveillance secret of the plane is the ludicrously shaped dorsal fin on top of the modified Boeing 737.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Its technical name is a Multi-role Electronically Scanned Array, or MESA, but it looks like a giant surfboard connected to the fuselage by a near full-length fin.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>The genius radar embedded in the surfboard and broadside fin can see 360 degrees both out and down, allowing air and surface threats to be quickly observed by the 10 specialists monitoring the signal on 10 consoles inside the plane.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>As one of them puts it, the Wedgetail "doesn't get wet feet"; its missions in the Middle East are largely confined to those above land on the southern side of the Arabian Gulf.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>That's the operational strength of the E7 Wedgetail: the aircraft doesn't have to venture across the water or over the Strait of Hormuz to see hundreds of kilometres into Iran.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><strong><span>READ MORE: </span></strong><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/national/australian-watchdog-takes-action-against-viral-ai-nudify-site/2f754c13-fe4c-424a-8634-3e45bfcaee34" rel="" target="_blank" title=""><strong><span>Australian watchdog takes action against viral AI 'nudify' site</span></strong></a></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"The radar's incredibly powerful, so it gives us really good coverage across the Arabian Gulf," Flight Lieutenant "C" said.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Defence Minister Richard Marles, who visited ADF personnel at their secret Middle East base, said the Wedgetail will be Australia's key commitment to a future multi-nation mission to keep the Strait of Hormuz open, but said that other assets may be promised.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"We have said that we will commit the E7 and we will also work with France and the UK who are leading that, as to what other contributions we can make," he said.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"We are a maritime nation where an increasing part of our national prosperity is derived from seaborne trade – this waterway really matters to Australia, it matters to the world."</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/national" rel="" target="_blank" title="Australia"><span>Australia</span></a><span>'s Ambassador to the United Arab Emirates Ridwaan Jadwat said he has been very impressed by the UAE's resilience in the face of unprovoked attacks.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"Almost 3000 drones and missiles have been fired at the UAE, and about 95 per cent of them were intercepted, so the UAE armed forces did an incredible job in defending the country."</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>He said restoring stability to the region is in everyone's interest.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"You ignore the Middle East at your peril," he said.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"The fuel crisis around the world has shown why the Middle East remains so important to average Australians."</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><strong><em><span>NEVER MISS A STORY:</span></em></strong><span> </span><strong><em><span>Get your breaking news and exclusive stories first by following us across all platforms.</span></em></strong></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><ul><li><strong><em><span>Download the 9NEWS App here via</span></em></strong><span> </span><a href="https://apps.apple.com/au/app/9news/id1010533727" target="_blank"><strong><em><span>Apple</span></em></strong></a><span> </span><strong><em><span>and</span></em></strong><span> </span><a href="https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=nineNewsAlerts.nine.com&amp;hl=en_AU&amp;pli=1" target="_blank"><strong><em><span>Google Play</span></em></strong></a></li><li><strong><em><span>Make 9News your preferred source on Google by</span></em></strong><span> </span><a href="https://9.nine.com.au/8x987w" target="_blank"><strong><em><span>ticking this box here</span></em></strong></a></li><li><strong><em><span>Sign up to</span></em></strong><span> </span><a href="https://login.nine.com.au/edm?client_id=nineatnine" target="_blank"><strong><em><span>our breaking newsletter here</span></em></strong></a></li></ul></div></div>