They’ve been looking at more advanced systems like the JSF and Raptor, but something needs to plug the hole until the RAAF retires the venerable F-111 in 2010.
The decision is drawing fire down under. For one, the Super Hornet doesn’t stack up too well against the Russian built Flankers and Fulcrums flown by Australia’s far-east competitors. Second, this is essentially a $2.5 billion duct-tape job, as the F/A-18 is to serve as a mere gap-filler between the Aardvarks’ retirement and the JSF deployment. Additionally, the timing is odd. Australia is committing itself to expensive fighter aircraft–jets that won’t be needed in 7 years–while simultaneously lamenting a $6 billion “hole” in their defense budget. Labor officials maintain that they can’t keep the Aardvarks flying long enough to wait around for the JSF, but a former RAAF air boss has gone on record saying that the F-111 is “quite capable of going out to 2020 and beyond.” Given the USAF’s ability to keep ancient KC-135s, B-52s, and C-130s airborne decades past their projected retirement dates, I’m thinking that he’s right. Though it’s always pleasing to see allied nations buying American kit, this seems like a waste of precious defense resources.
