Forum: Program and politics

"Mr Smith said Canberra is only contractually obligated to take delivery of two of the warplanes. They will be based in the United States and be available from 2014 for training Australian pilots.

He said Australia was reconsidering its schedule of buying another 12 during the following three years.

“We will now give consideration to whether the timetable for the purchase of those 12 Joint Strike Fighters should occur on the same timetable,” Mr Smith told reporters.

Australia is concerned that any decision by the US to reduce the number of jets it produces for its own forces would create another cost blowout."

http://www.theaustralian.com.au/nationa ... 6257503229

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That article is an "interesting" read. Whether or not the Aussies will take the F-35 in the desired quantities is hard to say at this point.

I did find the APA mention amusing, and the knock on the Super Hornet as an interim solution sounds a lot like their work. Then again, they heaped praise on it until the RAAF was actually considering it. I think Australia will remain committed to the program regardless of it's present difficulties-the truth is they'll have to if they want to remain a viable power in the area. We saw how long they stuck out the Aardvark's teething issues, with leased F-4's if I am correct. I imagine they will get their F-35s, as late as everyone else however.

HV

I agree. The RAAF put up with the issues with the F-111 so I'd imagine they'll stick with the F-35 as the replacement for their F-18s. The F-35 is what Australia needs as it is LO, has good growth potential, is advanced in avionics, and has a large industrial base so it is the only fighter that can ensure the defense of Australia in the long run.

To me it is interesting that 'more Super Hornets' was not mentioned and no surprise about delaying the dozen F-35A buy. There is a link in a side bar of the above story to the graphic (PDF) as seen below:

http://resources.news.com.au/files/2012 ... review.pdf (5.3Mb)

Trouble is with having an ex FornMin as DefMin is that this bloke has learnt how to waffle and dither way too much. Probably he could learn a thing or two about 'dummy spitting' from current FornMin ex-PM. Very Happy

JSF second tranche plan may go into 2013 21 Feb 2012
Max Blenkin, AAP Defence Correspondent

http://news.ninemsn.com.au/national/842 ... -into-2013

"Australia's plans to buy a second tranche of 58 Joint Strike Fighter (JSF) aircraft could be pushed out to 2013 or beyond.

The decision is not a major priority, against Defence Minister Stephen Smith's current focus on a potential gap in Australia's air combat capability after the retirement of the RAAF's 71 ageing F/A-18 Hornet aircraft.

"So in the course of this year, we will make a range of judgements ... about whether there's a risk of a capability gap and what steps we need to take," Mr Smith told the Australian Defence Magazine congress in Canberra.

Australia is presently committed to buying 14 advanced Lockheed Martin F-35 JSF aircraft and contractually obliged to take the first two in 2014.

The other 12 JSFs are scheduled for delivery between 2015 and 2017...."

Some more dithering delayed....

No move on more JSF planes David Ellery February 22, 2012

http://www.canberratimes.com.au/nationa ... 1tm04.html

"Defence Minister Stephen Smith does not plan to proceed with a scheduled decision on the purchase of another 58 Joint Strike Fighters valued at almost $6 billion this calendar year.

''It won't be a priority, in my view, this year to make judgments about the receipt or the delivery or the arrival of future or additional Joint Strike Fighters,'' he said at the Australian Defence Magazine Congress in Canberra yesterday...."

Forum: Program and politics

Australia may delay 12 of 14 JSF purchases