http://www.theage.com.au, Australia's new joint strike fighters will be delivered late, creating a potential crisis for the air force, the head of the Defence Science and Technology Organisation Roger Lough has revealed.
Dr Lough also said that it would be too risky to keep the ageing F-111 fleet flying. Experts say this will leave a significant gap in military capability, removing Australia's capacity to strike distant targets from the air.
The organisation is co-ordinating Australia's role in the JSF project and evaluating the lifespan of the F-111s, which are more than 40 years old. They are to be retired in 2010. Opposition defence spokesman Kim Beazley has said he would keep the F-111s flying to cover any gap caused by the late delivery of the JSF, scheduled for 2012.
But Dr Lough said it was “too risky and not technically feasible” to keep them in the air beyond 2010.
He warned the JSF project was unlikely to run smoothly. Australia is to buy about 100 of the aircraft for $16 billion, its most costly defence purchase.
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“There will be future problems in the JSF,” Dr Lough told the National Press Club. “If you look back at the development of just about every combat aircraft in history, they have always run overweight and late.”
The project was already running late, he said. Informed military sources said the aircraft would be delivered at least two years behind schedule.
The air force will have to revamp its fleet of F-18 Hornets to try to fill the gap.
Also yesterday, a paper from the Australian Strategic Policy Institute delivered a glowing verdict on the decision to buy the JSF. This was hardly surprising, as its author was air force chief Angus Houston.
It is believed the military paid the independent institute to release the paper under its banner. Air Marshal Houston wrote that Australia would be buying the best possible advanced combat aircraft.
