Post by corsair67 on Feb 2, 2007 10:05:57 GMT 12
Fighter jets not ready until 2018
By Ian McPhedran
February 01, 2007
AUSTRALIA'S new $16 billion jet fighter fleet will not be operational until 2018 - four to six years later than the Federal Government had promised.
According to a key RAAF adviser, the stealth F-35 Joint Strike Fighter (JSF) will be far less capable than initially thought.
Defence Minister Brendan Nelson's aerospace adviser Denis Hughes has also revealed plans to extend the life of the RAAF's fleet of 30 F-111 strike aircraft.
Those planes, known affectionately as "pigs", were due to retire by 2010, but could be extended to 2020 at a fraction of the cost of a Howard Government plan to buy 24 F/A-18 Super Hornet fighters for $3 billion.
The Super Hornets will fill the gap left by the F-111s and dozens of RAAF Hornet fighters that are due for a re-build.
The Daily Telegraph has obtained a record of a conversation from a meeting in Dr Nelson's Sydney office between Mr Hughes and John Peake, an aircraft analyst who is a critic of the JSF plan.
Mr Hughes said that the biggest problem with the F-111 was that someone would have to take the potentially career-ending decision to "sign-off" on a life extension.
Dr Nelson's office confirmed the contents of the meeting notes in which the adviser also revealed that his boss had not even read expert submissions about the project - the most expensive in Australian history.
Mr Peake said Mr Hughes confirmed rumours the next generation JSF, "with all its features", won't be ready until 2018.
When Mr Peake put it to him that crucial electro-optical features (ability to find targets and evade enemy) only worked in clear skies he replied, "Yes that's true".
The Government has already spent more than $200 million on the JSF and must decide by next year if it will proceed to purchase.
Mr Hughes is a former RAAF officer who transferred to the aerospace office in the Defence Materiel Organisation before joining Dr Nelson's office.
Mr Peake wants the Government to buy the US-built F-22 Raptor aircraft as a replacement for the F-111 and F/A-18 fighters.
The Government has ruled that out on the basis of cost - more than three times the JSF - and the Raptor's perceived lack of "multi-role" capabilities.
A spokesman for Dr Nelson said the Minister listened to advisers, but made his own decisions.
"Some people legitimately question the JSF but there is a small group that is fanatically obsessed with the F-22 (alternative aircraft) and are not prepared to consider other options."
Mr Hughes said the Chief of the Air Force, Air Marshal Geoff Shepherd, was right about the F-22's problems and the US generals who operated it were "wrong".
"The US Generals are pushing barrows to get funding and are playing politics," Mr Hughes said.
By Ian McPhedran
February 01, 2007
AUSTRALIA'S new $16 billion jet fighter fleet will not be operational until 2018 - four to six years later than the Federal Government had promised.
According to a key RAAF adviser, the stealth F-35 Joint Strike Fighter (JSF) will be far less capable than initially thought.
Defence Minister Brendan Nelson's aerospace adviser Denis Hughes has also revealed plans to extend the life of the RAAF's fleet of 30 F-111 strike aircraft.
Those planes, known affectionately as "pigs", were due to retire by 2010, but could be extended to 2020 at a fraction of the cost of a Howard Government plan to buy 24 F/A-18 Super Hornet fighters for $3 billion.
The Super Hornets will fill the gap left by the F-111s and dozens of RAAF Hornet fighters that are due for a re-build.
The Daily Telegraph has obtained a record of a conversation from a meeting in Dr Nelson's Sydney office between Mr Hughes and John Peake, an aircraft analyst who is a critic of the JSF plan.
Mr Hughes said that the biggest problem with the F-111 was that someone would have to take the potentially career-ending decision to "sign-off" on a life extension.
Dr Nelson's office confirmed the contents of the meeting notes in which the adviser also revealed that his boss had not even read expert submissions about the project - the most expensive in Australian history.
Mr Peake said Mr Hughes confirmed rumours the next generation JSF, "with all its features", won't be ready until 2018.
When Mr Peake put it to him that crucial electro-optical features (ability to find targets and evade enemy) only worked in clear skies he replied, "Yes that's true".
The Government has already spent more than $200 million on the JSF and must decide by next year if it will proceed to purchase.
Mr Hughes is a former RAAF officer who transferred to the aerospace office in the Defence Materiel Organisation before joining Dr Nelson's office.
Mr Peake wants the Government to buy the US-built F-22 Raptor aircraft as a replacement for the F-111 and F/A-18 fighters.
The Government has ruled that out on the basis of cost - more than three times the JSF - and the Raptor's perceived lack of "multi-role" capabilities.
A spokesman for Dr Nelson said the Minister listened to advisers, but made his own decisions.
"Some people legitimately question the JSF but there is a small group that is fanatically obsessed with the F-22 (alternative aircraft) and are not prepared to consider other options."
Mr Hughes said the Chief of the Air Force, Air Marshal Geoff Shepherd, was right about the F-22's problems and the US generals who operated it were "wrong".
"The US Generals are pushing barrows to get funding and are playing politics," Mr Hughes said.
