Operation Gateway is an ongoing
Australian Defence Force
The Australian Defence Force (ADF) is the military organisation responsible for the defence of the Commonwealth of Australia and its national interests. It consists of the Royal Australian Navy (RAN), Australian Army, Royal Australian Air Fo ...
(ADF) regional security and stability operation in
South East Asia
Southeast Asia, also spelled South East Asia and South-East Asia, and also known as Southeastern Asia, South-eastern Asia or SEA, is the geographical United Nations geoscheme for Asia#South-eastern Asia, south-eastern region of Asia, consistin ...
.
History
Commencing in 1980, the operation formed part of Australia's contribution to Western surveillance operations during the
Cold War. It included the use of
P-3 Orion
The Lockheed P-3 Orion is a four-engined, turboprop anti-submarine and maritime surveillance aircraft developed for the United States Navy and introduced in the 1960s. Lockheed based it on the L-188 Electra commercial airliner. and the
Strait of Malacca
The Strait of Malacca is a narrow stretch of water, 500 mi (800 km) long and from 40 to 155 mi (65–250 km) wide, between the Malay Peninsula (Peninsular Malaysia) to the northeast and the Indonesian island of Sumatra to the southwest, conn ...
. Royal Australian Navy submarines were also involved, conducting patrols as part of US "deterrence and surveillance operations against Soviet submarines". Meanwhile, the Australian Army maintained
Rifle Company Butterworth __NOTOC__
Rifle Company Butterworth is an Australian Army infantry company based at RMAF Base Butterworth in Butterworth, Penang, Malaysia. Rifle Company Butterworth was established in 1970 to provide a protective and quick-reaction force for RAA ...
at
Butterworth airbase in Malaysia in order to protect allied aircraft involved in the operation.
According to Brewster, during the 1980s the primary focus of Royal Australian Air Force aircraft involved in the operation was on detecting Soviet submarines transiting the Strait of Malacca, after which they would hand over to the US Navy. In response to Australian security concerns following the
Soviet invasion of Afghanistan
The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen nation ...
a detachment of up to three Orions from
No. 92 Wing RAAF
No. 92 Wing is the maritime patrol wing of the Royal Australian Air Force. Headquartered at RAAF Base Edinburgh, 92WG is part of the Surveillance and Response Group, and with the transitioning of No. 10 Squadron to 42 Wing with effect 1 May 20 ...
were deployed to Butterworth in Malaysia and began operations in February 1981. Initially the patrols involved the regular monitoring of Soviet ship and submarine movements in the region; however, the following year they began a "more aggressive prosecution phase" the following year which involved the use of radar and
sonar buoy
A sonobuoy (a portmanteau of sonar and buoy) is a relatively small buoy – typically diameter and long – expendable sonar system that is dropped/ejected from aircraft or ships conducting anti-submarine warfare or underwater acoustic re ...
s to actively detect, identify and track submarines. These patrols ended in 1989.
Since the end of the Cold War the Orions have continued to participate in maritime security operations under the
Five Power Defence Arrangements
The Five Power Defence Arrangements (FPDA) are a series of bilateral defence relationships established by a series of multi-lateral agreements between Australia, Malaysia, New Zealand, Singapore, and the United Kingdom, all of which are Commonw ...
, conducting patrols over the Indian Ocean, Strait of Malacca and
South China Sea
The South China Sea is a marginal sea of the Western Pacific Ocean. It is bounded in the north by the shores of South China (hence the name), in the west by the Indochinese Peninsula, in the east by the islands of Taiwan and northwestern Phil ...
. As part of this operation RAAF aircraft are involved in search and rescue and counter-piracy missions, at times flying as far afield as Sri Lanka and the Philippines. They have reportedly also been involved in
freedom of navigation
Freedom of navigation (FON) is a principle of law of the sea that ships flying the flag of any sovereign state shall not suffer interference from other states, apart from the exceptions provided for in international law. In the realm of internat ...
flights. Australian aircraft reportedly deploy to Butterworth between four and eight times a year, and conduct regular flights over the period of a fortnight.
Notes
References
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Further reading
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{{Refend
External links
Operation Gateway– Department of Defence
Recognition of service with Operation Gateway– Defence Honours & Awards Appeal Tribunal
Gateway
Gateway often refers to:
*A gate or portal
Gateway or The Gateway may also refer to:
Arts and entertainment Films
* ''Gateway'' (film), a 1938 drama
* ''The Gateway'' (2015 film), a horror film
* ''The Gateway'' (2017 film), a science-ficti ...