US general estimates jet fighters will cost Australia $1m extra each if Canada 'ejects'

Date
    October 22, 2015
    Sydney Morning Herald

Australia could pay up to $100 million more for its new fleet of stealth fighters should Canada dump plans to buy F-35, according to a US military estimate.

US Air Force Lieutenant-General Chris Bogdan told a congressional hearing in Washington on Wednesday that a decision by Canada or any country to cancel orders would add about $US1 million ($1.38 million) to the cost of each fighter.   

The ongoing costs for development of the fighter would also increase.


An F-35 Lightning II makes a test flight over Fort Worth, Texas, in 2008. The Canadian flag can be seen next to Australia's, as both countries were part of the manufacturing consortium.

The extra outlay would be another blow to the troubled F-35 program, which over its nearly two-decade history has been beset by cost overruns and technical difficulties.

Canada's prime minister-elect Justin Trudeau has pledged to withdraw from the nine-nation deal including Australia and the US to share the costs of developing the fighter jet.

Former prime minister Tony Abbott had committed Australia to buying a total fleet of 72 Joint Strike Fighters, as the F-35 is known.


Canadian prime minister-elect Justin Trudeau has pledged to pull his country out of the Joint Strike Fighter consortium.

Defence officials told a senate inquiry in Canberra this week the budget for the F-35 was $17 billion - but the purchase and running costs has been put at as high as $24 billion.   

Canada's outgoing Conservative government had originally planned to buy at least 65 of the jets, but Mr Trudeau has promised to seek a cheaper option.

Norway, the Netherlands, Japan and Israel are among the partners in the F-35 program.

General Bogdan, the head of the F-35 program, said he was speaking in general terms about the cost implications and it was not appropriate to comment on Mr Trudeau's election.

A spokesman for Lockheed Martin, the defence company developing the fighter, said Canada was a "valued partner" and there not been any formal notification from the government about their status in the F-35 program.

Doubts around the F-35 have centred on its ability to measure up to the latest Chinese and Russian jets, along with claims Chinese hackers stole sensitive design plans.

Australia has already purchased two F-35s at more than $126 million each and intends to gradually increase the total number to 72 jets by 2023.

Should $US1 million be added to the price tag for the next 70, the cost in today's exchange rate would be an additional $97 million.   

Officials told a Canberra Senate hearing on Wednesday evening - ahead of General Bogdan's comments - that the Canadian decision was unlikely to have cost implications for Australia.

RAAF Air Vice-Marshal Chris Deeble also said Australia expected the cost for each aircraft to drop to around $90 million when the final nine jets were purchased in 2023.

He said the stealth jets were in a testing process.

"But it is on track. This is a very complex program, however, and there will always be issues that you will strike," Air Vice-Marshal Deeble said.

The first F-35s are expected to enter service in 2020.

Further comment is being sought from the Defence department.

[quote author=taffy.evans79@gmai link=1445506639/1#1 date=1445506752]Wheres the money coming from?.   

Budget emergency

Like the F-111s - final payment always blows out.  Then it becomes a political football with the side in Opposition sticking it to the government about how they waste money... party is irrelevant.

EVERY major military project blows out  in cost... and the only way you know it is worthwhile is when the fighting begins...

Its time wrote on Oct 22^nd, 2015 at 7:45pm:


The budget for the Department of Defence, and more specifically the money for this project, was planned and paid for years ago. Projects like this are budgeted for well in advance. It's not like the health budget where a new hospital will be planned for construction next year. Most Defence acquisitions take many years to be completed because they are complex and expensive.