A Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) pilot has managed to capture the exact moment he fired a high-tech missile in a perfectly timed cockpit selfie.

Flight Lieutenant Todd 'Woody' Woodford took the spectacular picture inside his EA-18G Growler during a live fire exercise off the Californian coast.

The airman is one of six Australians serving in US Navy expeditionary EA-18G squadrons as part of a bilateral Personnel Exchange Program, and the first RAAF member to launch an AGM-88 High-speed Anti-Radiation (HARM) Missile.

His Top Gun-style missile selfie was first published online on Tuesday by the California-based Tailhook Association.

Twelve EA-18G Growler aircraft are eventually expected to be based at RAAF Base Amberley, south-west of Brisbane, with the Defence Department expecting the aircraft to come into service there in 2018.