Australia’s $17 billion ‘dud deal’   

27th Oct 2018 Sunshine Coast Daily

AUSTRALIA has been locked into a "dud deal" by the US, which experts predict will put taxpayers billions of dollars out of pocket and leave the nation's security dangerously exposed.

The F-35 stealth fighter jet program is the most expensive defence project in global history.

The US project involves the manufacture and rollout of the super jets, which have been described as the "iPhone of fighter jets".

The fifth-generation aircraft were originally sold to major partner nations, including the UK, Italy, Canada and Denmark, on the strength of their "invisibility" or stealth.

The aircraft features concealed missiles and bombs and can fly at a top speed of 1900km/h.

Engineers claim the jets are able to avoid enemy detection, allowing allied pilots to get much closer to their targets before striking.

The F-35 Joint Strike Fighter can fly at a top speed of 1900km/h.

The Australian Federal Government has committed to spending $17 billion on 72 jets due to be built in the US and delivered by 2035.

Ten of the jets have been built so far and are they sitting at the Luke Air Force Base in Arizona.

The first two will be delivered to Australia in December.

But as the nation awaits its cargo, our own jets are near the end of their service life and the F-35 program faces criticism over major delays and faults.

These delays have, in turn, blown the project's global budget out more than $163 billion, leaving Australia in a precarious financial situation.

So why has this defence project been described as a "dud deal" for Australia?

DELAYS   

The F-35 program was officially launched in 2001 but it dates back to the 1990s.

It has, so far, failed to meet many of its development targets and continues to rack up additional costs with each problem it encounters.

The fighter jets cost a staggering $140 million each and have been plagued by computer system failures, software delays and breakdowns.

University of NSW defence technology expert Jai Galliott said the jets were fast becoming outdated due to the delays.   

"By the time we have fully operational fleets of these aircraft, their skills will be significantly less than what might have been the case back when we signed the deal," Dr Galliott said.

While he acknowledged the F-35's stealth was "excellent", Dr Galliott said technological sacrifices were made to achieve that unnecessary feature in the process.

"The project is over-budget so there are concerns that corners have been cut in production to ensure it doesn't go too far over budget," he said.




Over the years, problems were identified in the lack of oxygen pilots received, tyres were ripped apart on impact and computer systems failed repeatedly.

The most recent failure involved a US F-35 stealth fighter crashing during a training exercise outside Marine Corps Air Station Beaufort in South Carolina last month.

The pilot was safely ejected from the aircraft but all F-35 jets, including Australia's small fleet, were grounded while an investigation was carried out, pushing out the deadline and cost even further.

The investigation concluded the crash was due to a faulty fuel tube, sparking further inspections.

An Australian Defence Department spokeswoman told news.com.au that "all of Australia's F-35A aircraft have now been inspected".

"Two were found to be fitted with suspect hydraulic fuel tubes which will be replaced," the spokeswoman said.

"All non-affected Australian aircraft have been cleared to fly."

The spokeswoman confirmed the safety inspections had no impact on the delivery of the first two jets to Australia on December 10.

Dr Galliott said that, while the US had been quick to cover up technical problems and tout the F-35's capabilities in combat, the weapons industry was rapidly moving away from pilot-operated battle planes.

"It will take such a long time to sort out all the problems and train people up that we could have built or purchased an unmanned combat aerial vehicle instead," Dr Galliott said.


One F-35A strike fighter will set you back around AUD $140 million

Belgium just announced they are to purchase F-35s.

Bobby. wrote on Oct 27^th, 2018 at 1:11pm:


Now, that would be foolish of them attempting that, as our F-35s are presently stationed in the USA, Bobby.   

I am unsure why you perceive Indonesia as a threat, Bobby.  They lack the ability to attack our mainland and they lack the ability to move effective forces here in any strength.  Sounds to be like you're trolling. 

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I doubt it, Bobby.  I'd be more worried about the far more numerous Russian and American and French and British military recce satellites than the handful of Chinese ones...   

Bobby. wrote on Oct 27^th, 2018 at 5:04pm:


Really?

Quote:


They were caught unawares, Bobby.   Israel is less than 30 minutes flying time from Egypt.  The Egyptians were surprised by the Israelis.   Indonesia is over 3 hours flying time from the northern Australian coast, let alone where we have our aircraft stationed.  Who said we would be surprised by the time they reach our airbase at Tindal (the closest to Indonesia)?  You do realise that we have AEW aircraft, patrolling our northern borders?  We have JORN watching our northern approaches.   We have ground based radar as well, covering the approaches to Tindal.  You seem to be assuming that Indonesia is poised, with all of it's dozen fighter-bombers, just waiting for the chance to attack Australia.  I wonder why?  Could it because of your Islamophobia?  Mmmm?

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Why is that I can trip you up, everytime, Bobby?  Did you fail your exams?  Mmmm?   

Brian Ross wrote on Oct 27^th, 2018 at 6:54pm:



Brian,
have a look here:

https://www.google.com.au/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=3&cad=rja&uact=...


There is nothing about bunkers to store the F-35s.

The next war will be fought with stealth aircraft -
JORN and radar won't save us from a surprise attack.
We must learn from the 6 day war -
if you don't learn from history you are condemned to repeat it.

Bobby. wrote on Oct 27^th, 2018 at 7:50pm:


You don't store aircraft in bunkers, Bobby.  You store aircraft in dispersal shelters.  We have dispersal shelters already at Tindal for our F/A-18s.  They won't disappear when the F/A-18s disappear.

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Indonesia cannot afford stealth aircraft, Bobby.  It can barely afford the aircraft it presently flies - only on Fridays, by a little old Imam.   

JORN BTW is one of the few OTH radars that can detect stealth aircraft, Bobby.  I have watched planes landing in Singapore with JORN.  It is a magic system, completely unmatched by anything the Indonesians or the Chinese have.

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We have learnt from it.   We will not repeat the same mistakes the Egyptians made - we will not trust the Israelis - don't you worry about that!   

Bobby. wrote on Oct 28^th, 2018 at 6:31am:


Your enemy must get within range first, Bobby.   Apart from Tindal, most air bases are on the East Coast.   Indonesia lacks aircraft with the range to reach the East Coast...

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JORN will detect them when they take off from their bases in Indonesia and issue an alert to the RAAF, Bobby.   It can see as far as Singapore and beyond, on a good day.

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No, we are not.   Grow up, please, Bobby.  Your being embarrassing.   

Guys grow up, we don't have big wars now, we have unarmed human waves of asylum seekers walking across borders that replace us demographically and culturally by outbreeding us and we pay them to do so.