Return of Aircraft from Operation Okra

The Minister for Defence, the Hon Senator Marise Payne, announced the return of Australia’s six F/A-18F Super Hornets marking the end of Australia’s successful air strike operations in Iraq and Syria. Since October 2014, Hornet pilots and support personnel had made a significant contribution at the request of the Iraqi government, in support of the Iraqi Security Forces. The strike aircraft, deployed as part of the Air Task Group, conducted more than 2,700 sorties against Daesh targets in both Iraq and eastern Syria.