Australia is set to receive the first aircraft in a new fleet of business jets converted for use as a long-range intelligence collection and electronic warfare platform.
American systems integrator L3Harris is modifying four Gulfstream G550 business jets for service with the Royal Australian Air Force under the designation MC-55A Peregrine.
Speaking to FlightGlobal at the Avalon air show, L3Harris says it will deliver the “first of its kind aircraft” to Australia before the end of this year.
“From an intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance [ISR] capability, there’s nothing else in the world that matches MC-55,” says Jason Lambert, president of ISR programmes at L3Harris.
Canberra plans to acquire four of the modified business jets, which boast a custom sensor package housed in a canoe-shaped compartment below the fuselage. That configuration required significant changes to the G550 outer mold line, along with a new airworthiness certification.
That certification process, along with the initial process of integrating Australia’s unique sensor suite, pushed the first Peregrine delivery into 2025 from an earlier projection of 2023.
Lambert says first-time development programmes like the MC-55 often encounter unforeseen challenges, in this case working with airframer Gulfstream to address changes to the G550’s flight parameters created by adding the ventral sensor housing.
L3Harris received the critical supplemental type certification for the new airframe shape from US regulators in late 2024. Since then, the company has completed mission systems integration on the inaugural Peregrine and notched the type’s first functional check flight with those sensors installed.
“Now we’re on our path to delivery,” Lambert says.
He notes the company is currently operating within the schedule and cost targets agreed upon by Canberra and Washington, which is managing the MC-55 programme via the US Foreign Military Sales (FMS) system.
For the first time, Lambert also reveals that L3Harris is preparing a similar G550-based aircraft for a different FMS customer.
While declining to name the buyer or provide specific details on the order, he confirms that configuration will use the same outer mold line shape as Australia’s Peregrines and come equipped with a similar mission package.
L3Harris is involved in a number of similar business jet conversion efforts, including the G550-based EA-37B electronic warfare jet for the US Air Force and a family of long-range surveillance aircraft for the US Army based on Bombardier Global 6500.
