RAAF Super Hornet Acquisition on Four Corners

[Surditas]

Anyone else see this?
Looked like the same bunch of disgruntled ex-RAAFies bleating on about how the F-111 is (easily) the world's greatest aircraft. According to the journalist, the Pig can even do air-superiority.
I liked the "hypotheticals":
Hypothetical 1. Four Pigs get to Jakarta, hit targets and egress for tea and medals before the Indons even realise what's going on.
Hypothetical 2: Sixteen Super Hornets struggle against Indon Su-30s, get smacked on the run-in, miss most of their targets, get smacked on egress and then have to ditch because the AAR gets schwacked as well.
The Pig is a great aircraft, but it is soaking up a fair wad of the Defence budget. Can the Super Hornet carry the same payload the same distance? No, but it shouldn't be as labour intensive to keep airborne.
The best bit was Carlo Kopp looking like a German sex-tourist, sweatily telling us we need the Pig and the F-22.
He's probably right on the F-22, but the Yanks won't sell 'em to us.
On the Pig, good old Carlo has said we can keep it in service until 2040...if we put PW119s in it, re-skin it in carbon fibre, make the cockpit glass, whack in some new radar, new datalink and on and on and on. Sounds easy.
Actually, doesn't sound easy.

[ArthurR]

New engines, new skin, new avionics, new radar, no doubt new weapons platform, ect. = new aircraft

[herkman]

Ah the arm chair warriors, would not often know crap from clay.

The RAAF have a problem, the pigs are running out of time, because it means total support in Australia, which whilst it could be done, would push the budget to doomsville. The airplanes are tired and really need to go, shame as that may be.

The Indo's over the last 40 years, have had some of the best equipment in the world, but can they keep them in the air for sustained operations I think not. Their piloting ability will not make up for the brillance of what ever they fly.

A Super Hornet flown by a advanced pilot, will win against the Su30, and this is not my opinion, it is from some of the best sources in the world.

There is no garrantee that the RAAF will ever operate the JSP. It is already too heavy, too late and very expensive. To early yet to say the outcomes in every area.

It always amazes me, that the retired has been jocks, always feel they know better than the guys who are current.

It is in many respects just a beat up, and why someone does not rack Karlo off I do not know. To my knowledge he is not a qualified jock, and appears to be rowing the boat without qualifications.

The RAAF if not carefull, could end up with no front line fighter bombers at all.

End of rant

Col

[jindabyne]

Over the last four years of the past decade working out of Canberra, I became very familiar with Australia's defence acquisition processes. As a then in-country industrial Pom, with a previous RAF background in fast-jet flying, operational management and future procurement, I was invariably impressed with the quality of expertise throughout the DoD organisations involved in assessing the ADF's long-term air combat/strike capability needs. In all my dealings across the spectrum, Hugh White stood out then as a person of high integrity and with a stronger grasp than most of defence capability projections - watching the 4 Corners programme today, that view is unchanged. As for the two Chris(s)'s and Kopp not a lot has changed there either!! The Defence Minister and his two associated military chiefs seem to have lost the plot, IMHO that is.

[Goer Round]

As always - watch the telly and THEN come on here to get the real low-down!

As I was watching I had the distinct impression that it was a typical ABC beat up just before the election. And that's why Maxine McCue got a whole segment on the 7.30 Report. Jeez - talk about partisanship!:ugh:

[BewareTheDropBear]

Be that as it may, Mr Hugh White and his ilk are the cronies of the Hawke/Keating labour govt who professed the Defence of Australia (DoA) policy, thereby whittling down Australia's forces to the point where we struggled to get the job done in little East Timor; a short hop across from Darwin. DoA has been proven to be totally incapable of meeting the current operational requirements and has thankfully been replaced by the DoD and TPTB with a smaller version of forward defence and force projection, hence the significant investment in the ADF over the last 6-8 years. Hugh White continues to peddle his beliefs, as head of the ASPI think tank, yet IMHO has struggled to move into the current international climate from his "use the land-mass of Australia" to defend us policy.

He might be a nice guy but his views are as old and dated as those ties my uncle wears to appear "hip" and "with it" in front of the new girl at work.