Forum: Program and politics

British threat to fighter project
John Kerin - January 05, 2006

Australia is facing a further cost blowout on its purchase of next-generation fighters, with Britain threatening to pull out of the US-led joint strike fighter project over Washington's reluctance to share the secrets of stealth technology.

Canberra has not threatened to withdraw from the $256 billion project despite the escalating cost of the warplanes, but says it shares Britain's concerns.

Source: www.theaustralian.news.com.au

I have lost count, but there are ( a good number ? a few? ) Aussie companies that have successfully competed ( and won ) JSF workshare contracts.

Forgive my ignorance but can someone give me a brief summary of exactly what "workshare" is? In relation to JSF.
Does it mean, say, Aussie ` companies making components for JSF, even if they pull out of buying them, ie still making parts for USAF, Navy JSFs?

Or...assembling some of the jets whole to be distributed to any buyers?
thanks in advance

The price Australia will pay the US for 100 Joint Strike Fighter (JSF) jets could top $18 billion - up $6 billion or 50 per cent on the price in 2002, when the deal was announced.

The Lockheed Martin jets are already expected to cost $16 billion but that figure could blow out further, said chief executive Peter Goon, whose Adelaide-based company, Australian Flight Test Services, provides military flight test and aerospace engineering services.

"The total cost of the JSF project has already increased significantly, with the US General Accounting Office revising the cost upwards this year, from $US256 billion to $US276 billion ($A350 billion to A378 billion)," Mr Goon told Fairfax newspapers.

"Our estimates indicate that another very significant cost increase will be announced within the next three to five weeks."

A spokesman for JSF maker Lockheed Martin, Andrew Sloan, said it was very likely further cost estimates would be announced.

"We currently estimate the planes will cost around $100 million each, but then you have servicing, maintenance, training and other costs on top of that - which you can usually estimate to double the cost of the plane - which then brings you up to around the $18 billion to $20 billion mark for Australia," he told Fairfax.

Australia has until the end of the year to decide whether to go ahead with the purchase.

Six other countries, including Italy, Britain, Canada and the Netherlands, are also considering the jet.

The JSF is intended to replace Australia's fleet of 33 F-111 and 70 F/A-18 Hornets by 2012, but delivery is expected to be delayed until about 2015. It was chosen because it will be able to fulfil a dual role now performed by the F-111s and F/A-18s.

Mr Goon urged the Department of Defence to maintain the F-111 fleet and buy the more expensive F-22 Raptor, which is already in production.

But Australian National University defence expert Alan Stephens said the lobby against the JSF was "quite wrong".

"We cannot continually look for quick fixes, and stretching the life of F-111s is exactly that," Dr Stephens said. "The JSF is quite simply the best package available to suit our defence needs into the future."

AUSTRALIA'S frontline strike aircraft could be grounded within two years as costs blow out and the risk of accidents escalates.

Senior air force officers and defence scientists are pushing to "fast track" plans to buy long-range missiles and upgrade other planes so the F-111s can be withdrawn from service.
The planes are due to be phased out from 2010 but The Courier-Mail has learned moves are under way to bring that forward to 2008.

Opponents fear Australia's defences would be left exposed before new US-built Joint Strike Fighters are ready.

Based at Amberley, west of Brisbane, the aircraft known as "pigs" for their ability to use ground-hugging radars to hunt close to the ground, have been Australia's leading long-range strike weapon since the 1970s.

They have become less effective due to modern electronic warfare and stealth technology.

The aircraft must also be escorted by more up-to-date F/A-18 Hornet fighters.
Nine RAAF officers have died in F-111 crashes and statistics indicate the ageing planes are overdue for an incident.

Chief Defence Scientist Dr Roger Lough has told a parliamentary committee that the F-111 was "ancient" by combat aircraft standards.

He said he had a "whole division" of scientists at Fishermans Bend in Victoria devoted to keeping the machines flying.

Current plans have the strike aircraft retiring between 2010 and 2012, but military sources say top brass are increasingly concerned about ballooning costs and risks to aircrew.

"They want them off the flight line as soon as possible," one source said.

RAAF chief Air Marshal Geoff Shepherd, who logged 2500 hours in F-111s, told the parliamentary inquiry it was vital not to leave the retirement date to "chance".

He said keeping them flying could cost billions of dollars. "We need to get out of the F-111 business."

Tens of millions of taxpayer dollars are being spent every month so No. 1 Squadron's 28 operational F-111s can stay in the air.

Last year the RAAF budget blew out by about $200 million and most of that was due to the growing costs of operating the F-111s.

The main worry is fatigue deep within the 30 to 40-year-old airframes.

The Government has virtually decided to spend $15 billion to buy about 100 of the yet-to-be built US Joint Strike Fighters to replace the RAAF's 28 F-111s and 71 Hornets.

The so-called fifth-generation stealth fighters will not be delivered until 2014 or later.

Key strategies to avoid any "gap" are new air-to-air refuelling tankers, upgraded Hornets and highly lethal long-range "shoot and forget" missiles.