Eyes in the Sky Head to Darwin
P-3K Orion crew from Number 5 Squadron of the Royal New Zealand Air Force departed on 26 July for Darwin to participate in the Royal Australian Navy’s most significant exercise for 2008, Exercise Kakadu IX.
An RNZAF Orion conducting maritime surveillance.
The exercise featured Naval and Air capabilities and was designed to develop multilateral maritime operations in an international coalition environment.
Together with members from the RNZAF, the exercise saw around 2000 defence personnel from Australia, Singapore, Malaysia, Papua New Guinea, Pakistan, Japan, Thailand and the French Armed Forces – New Caledonia; with observers from India, the Philippines and Indonesia.
The two week exercise provided participating countries the opportunity for training activities, weapons practice and promoting a shared understanding of maritime security issues.
Detachment Commander FLTLT Cameron Brownlee said the exercise provided the Orion crew with the opportunity to hone their maritime surveillance skills.
It also exercised the skills of RNZAF logistics and operational support personnel.
‘New Zealand’s Exclusive Economic Zone is one of the largest in the world and we also conduct maritime surveillance for a number of Pacific countries, so the opportunity to improve our maritime operations was welcome.’