First MC-55A Peregrine Delivered as U.S. Air Force Expands Joint Intel Missions with Australia.

L3Harris Technologies delivered the first MC-55A Peregrine multi-intelligence aircraft on January 24, 2026, placing it initially under U.S. Air Force custody despite the jet being built for Australia. The move highlights how Washington and Canberra are deliberately integrating intelligence and electronic warfare capabilities within U.S. frameworks to ensure coalition readiness in the Indo-Pacific.

L3Harris’ January 24, 2026, delivery of the first MC-55A multi-intelligence aircraft to the U.S. Air Force marks a quiet but consequential moment in allied airpower integration, coming after the completion of key integration and mission-system testing tied to Australia’s Peregrine fleet. Even though the aircraft is destined for the Royal Australian Air Force, its initial handover into USAF custody signals something larger than a routine program milestone: Washington and Canberra are deliberately shaping a coalition ISR architecture that can be certified, trained, and tactically refined inside U.S. frameworks before it ever begins operational tasking under Australian colors.
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The MC-55A Peregrine is a long-range, high-altitude multi-intelligence aircraft based on the Gulfstream G550, equipped with advanced signals and electronic intelligence systems that enable persistent surveillance, real-time threat detection, and electromagnetic order-of-battle mapping across vast maritime and land areas in support of U.S. and allied joint operations (Picture source: L3Harris).

The MC-55A Peregrine is a missionized Gulfstream G550 business jet, extensively modified into an airborne Intelligence, Surveillance, Reconnaissance, and Electronic Warfare platform. Australia has defined the aircraft as a long-range system designed to deliver multiple sources of intelligence, operated by No. 10 Squadron from RAAF Base Edinburgh, and intended to complement P-8A Poseidon maritime patrol aircraft and MQ-4C Triton unmanned systems. Together, these assets form a layered surveillance and electronic intelligence architecture tailored for Australia’s vast maritime approaches and expeditionary commitments alongside U.S. forces.

From a technical standpoint, the selection of the G550 airframe reflects a deliberate balance between performance and sustainability. The platform offers very long range, high cruising speed, and operational ceilings above 50,000 feet, enabling rapid repositioning across theaters and persistent operations at altitudes that enhance sensor coverage and communications relay. These characteristics are particularly relevant in the Indo-Pacific, where distance and basing dispersion dominate operational planning.

Transforming a civilian business jet into a high-end multi-intelligence platform, however, demands deep structural and systems modification. The Peregrine program involved extensive integration of new ISR payloads, antenna arrays, mission computers, secure communications suites, and power-generation upgrades, alongside additional cooling capacity and changes to the aircraft’s outer mold line. The result is a first-of-type aircraft whose internal architecture is optimized to host multiple classified sensor systems while maintaining airworthiness under stringent military and civil certification regimes.

The MC-55A’s value lies less in any single sensor than in its ability to fuse and deliver intelligence across domains. In a contested environment, understanding the electromagnetic order of battle is as critical as detecting physical platforms. Peregrine is designed to collect, analyze, and disseminate electronic and signals intelligence in near real time, providing threat warning, targeting support, and mission data that feed directly into joint and coalition kill chains. This role positions it as a key enabler for both kinetic and non-kinetic operations, from long-range strike to electronic protection.

The comparison naturally turns to existing American platforms. The RC-135V/W Rivet Joint remains the backbone of U.S. Air Force signals intelligence, offering theater-wide collection and analysis, but it relies on an aging airframe with significant sustainment demands. At the other end of the spectrum, the EA-37B Compass Call, also based on the G550, is purpose-built for electromagnetic attack, designed to deny and disrupt adversary communications, navigation, and radar systems. The MC-55A occupies a complementary niche, emphasizing persistent multi-intelligence collection and cueing rather than active jamming, making it a critical upstream contributor to U.S. and allied electronic warfare effects.

The fact that the first MC-55A has been delivered to the U.S. Air Force, despite being an Australian capability, is strategically significant. Follow-on aircraft will remain in U.S. custody to support Royal Australian Air Force training and pre-delivery activities, effectively embedding the platform within USAF operational, training, and security ecosystems from the outset. This arrangement ensures interoperability at the deepest levels, from cryptography and data links to tactics development and mission planning, before the aircraft even enters Australian service.

No other country currently fields the MC-55A configuration itself, which remains unique to Australia’s AIR555 program. However, the broader trend toward missionized business jets for intelligence and electronic warfare roles is spreading rapidly among U.S. allies. The U.S. shift of Compass Call onto the G550 platform and allied interest in similar aircraft underscore a move toward distributed, survivable, and rapidly deployable ISR and EW capabilities that can operate in coalition frameworks.

Geography provides the final strategic lens. The delivery route of the first MC-55A, passing through key U.S. and Pacific bases before onward movement, mirrors the operational network it is designed to support. In an era where deterrence hinges on sensing, targeting speed, and electromagnetic dominance across vast distances, Peregrine represents more than a new aircraft. It is a tangible expression of how the United States and Australia intend to see first, share faster, and act together in a contested Indo-Pacific battlespace.