10 hour missions

All this is of little use if it does not keep the enemy from gaining ground.

Defence Minister David Johnston said the planes were providing important air cover for local forces, flying missions of between six and 10 hours

"What we have seen from ISIS over the last week or so is that they've made themselves a much harder target... they've dispersed, they're adapting camouflage patterns, they've moved back inside the cities and getting close to the forces and holding on.

Two hundred Australian special forces soldiers will also advise Iraqi and Kurdish troops on the ground, pending final legal sign-off from the Iraqi government.

The US has also been carrying out air strikes in Syria, where Kurdish forces are currently holding out against an Islamic State siege in the border town of Kobane.

H/T- From a reader Super Rhinoceront

(photo via Defence)

Important comment from this previous post: RAAF Super Hornet weapons load-outs in Operation: USELESS BUSH

johnno • 12 hours ago
The whole RAAF Super Hornet deployment has problems. Anybody (except the Australian media) can consult an Atlas and realize that where the Hornets are based in the southern gulf is around 700 miles south of Iraq's southern border and the action is largely north of Bagdad (another 300 miles). That is a round trip mission of close to 2000 miles per sortie. At a cruising speed (400knts) that is 5 hours, plus time over target, plus tanker visits, plus pre-mission briefing, plus post mission debrief. That is a total mission time of 8 hours or more. That going flat out is one sortie per crew per day.
Conclusion, given the likely total RAAF complement of Super Hornet qualified crews, the RAAF are unlikely to generate even 6 sorties per day on a sustained basis unless they are deployed a lot further north.