The
US Deputy Defence Secretary has written
Brendan Nelson to say that the F22 will not be offered as an export to Australia. The F22 is one of two fifth generation platforms, the JSF is the other, and more than a few in politics and policy have argued for the F22 instead of the JSF to be the RAAF's next platform.
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Catallaxyfiles
is one of the biggest blogs/sites in the Australian alternative media/dicussion. Dr Dennis Jenson, member for Tangney,
recently published an article there discussing the JSF/F22 and which would be best for Australian capability
.
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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.(more)
There has been a flurry of political and media commentary on the F22 Raptor in Australia over the last two weeks. A quick run-down on the statements and issues. (more)
I have argued previously in;
Do We Need a 2005 Defence White Paper
, that we need an updated Defence White Paper, and that the supporting documents released since do not fully answer some changes in the strategic environment regionally and domestically. As a result I was interested to see the Howard Government's reply to the Joint Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs, Defence and Trade recommendations.
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The parliamentary library has released a research note which
updates information on the JSF project [PDF]
and Australia's position and options for it. The two main issues identified are increasing cost of the platform and Australian access to source code.
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The
Kokoda Foundation
asks of the upcoming replacement of the F111 and F18 platforms;
Australia's future Joint Strike Fighter fleet: How much is too little?
The Australian government will probably be asking that same question from another angle: How much is enough!
The Kokoda Foundation tested force structures for three, four and five squadrons of JSFs in two scenarios. One regional and one expeditionary. The Foundation discovered that less than sixty-four frontline aircraft forced compromises in Australian government policy and ADF capability. A further discovery was that with eighty frontline aircraft, out force multipliers such as AEW&Cs and tankers inflicted limitations on the JSFs ability to operate.
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