The Age recently published an article
on retired Air Vice Marshal Peter Criss believing that Australia requires the F22 now rather than the JSF later. From the article;
But Mr Criss says the RAAF should, in fact, consider buying the F-22 Raptor, an even more advanced -- and expensive -- combat aircraft than the F-35. Both aircraft are manufactured by Lockheed Martin.
Air Vice-Marshal Criss has called for an open debate between all interested Australian parties at a neutral location on all aspects associated with the selection of a replacement aircraft or aircrafts for the existing F/A-18 and the F-111 fleets. He said he had heard the Minister recently quoted as saying that the JSF may not be the aircraft for Australia but the F22 would not be a contender. "The basis of this position must be divulged to the Australian public in open forum and be subjected to critical evaluation by interested Australians - not interested foreign contractors and Defence Department bureaucrats advising the Minister." From Air Vice-Marshal Criss's perspective, the decision to join the collaborative development team working on the JSF in the late nineties wascommendable; however, unfortunately some appear to have allowed this investment to incorrectly influence the potential procurement advice going to the Minster he said. Air Vice Marshal Criss was present at discussions between the Chief of both the United States and Australian air forces in the late nineties when the F-22 was offered to the RAAF and it was dismissed out of hand by the Australian delegate. "At the time very little was known about either aircraft and the F-22 was being quoted as approximately fourtimes more expensive than the JSF so I thought the Australian position was understandable at that time". "Today, and especially by the expected delivery time for the JSF in 2012 (or perhaps later), there appears to be very little if any difference in price between the two contenders and yet there is no comparison in capability, with the F-22 demonstrating proven performance well beyond anything the JSF is likely to deliver when it eventually comes off paper and into production."The price of the JSF has been rising and is currently around the 100 million mark while the cost of the F22 has been dropping and is around the 140 million mark. The cost of aerial supremacy may seem high at first, but the F111 has been Australia's best dollar for dollar purchase and gave over thirty years as the ultimate deterrent - two squadrons cost $172 million in the 1970s. The cost was worth it back then. The article concludes;
The debate in Australia promises to become more and more interesting, not least given the existing US prohibitions on export of the F-22 Raptor. But what happens if two key US allies, Australia and a suddenly more prominent Japan, are both asking and both very serious?Not to mention Israel who has expressed interest in the F22 now that the US Government has removed the restrictions on adding new technology and modifying existing technology on the platforms.
