An Australian Wedgetail Aircraft & Missiles to Defend UAE

Announced today Australia is sending an E-7A Wedgetail early warning and control aircraft to the UAE by Friday 13th March 2026. A Wedgetail is based   on a 737 platform, has a large radar and specialised crew of about 14 crew per watch/mission. In all about 85 RAAF personnel are going to the UAE.

The Wedgetail activity is integrated with the second aspect of Australia's assistance to the UAE which is probably initially sending around 100 AIM-120 Advanced Medium-Range Air-to-Air Missiles (AMRAAM). These will likely be air-freighted with their heavy radar and coordination components to the UAE by RAAF C-17 cargo aircraft. With an average system cost to Australia of perhaps A$4.5 million each, the AMRAAMs may be launched by jets of the UAE. Also some AMRAAMs will be in ground launched NASAMS batteries. 

For defence of Australia the RAAF appears to have budgeted for 400-535 AMRAAMs, for Australia's own defence,, tops. These limited stocks may be vey uneconomic if tasked to shoot down much cheaper Iranian drones and cruise missiles fired at the UAE over a very short period. Iran is firing 10s of missiles and 100s of drones over the Middle East daily. 

Unfortunately AMRAAMs may currently have difficulty shooting down expensive Iranian ballistic missiles. Maybe US Patriots and other ABMs will do/are doing those jobs. 

USS Charlotte (SSN-766) Torpedoed Iranian Frigate IRIS Dena

Video here and above courtesy Warships & Warriors, uploaded March 5, 2026.
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On March 5, 2026 it was reported the torpedo that struck an Iranian frigate, IRIS Dena, was fired by USS Charlotte (SSN-766) a Los Angeles-class attack submarine, multiple US officials told CBS News on March 5. USS Charlotte reportedly fired two MK 48 torpedoes at IRIS Dena, the officials said. The first one missed, but the second one sank the Dena. This was in the Indian Ocean just south of Sri Lanka. 

Sri Lankan sailors rescued 32 Iranian sailors from the commissioned in 2021 Moudge class frigate IRIS Dena. About 80 Iranian sailors may have been killed. This is the first known attack by an American submarine on a surface warship since World War II. 

Previous ships sunk by submarine's torpedoes since 1945 were an Indian frigate, INS Khukri, sunk by Pakistani conventional sub PNS Hangor in 1971; Argentine Navy cruiser General Belgrano sunk by HMS Conqueror SSN in 1982; and South Korean corvette ROKS Cheonan sunk in March 2010, most likely by a torpedo from a North Korean small sub. 

US Secretary of War Pete Hegseth (in his ignorance of Argentinian, Indian and South Korean sinkings) said at a press conference this morning. “Instead, sunk by a torpedo, quiet death [but big explosion!], the first sinking of an enemy ship by a torpedo since World War II.” Ultranationalist Hegseth may feel non-US history doesn't exist.

While Israel may accurately see Iran as a mortal enemy, for the US this is an elective war. It is boosting oil prices for US oil companies and for America's oil rich allies. Iranian missiles and drones endanger those Mid-East allies. It can also be seen as an attempt by Trump to push the "rally around the President during time of war" effect. This is in the runup to the US Midterm Elections on November 3, 2026. US citizen's sorrow over US war dead and oil price rises may have the opposite effect on Trump's political herpes.