Originally Posted by
Asturias56
I guess the question is where are you going to fight and who are you fighting?
It's hard to see the Red Army ploughing through Indonesia so you're thinking of fighting the Chinese Navy and Air Force somewhere north of Indonesia & PNG. You have to ask if that is likely or effective unless you are fighting alongside the USA - in which case Australia is going to be a bit of a side-show to the main action which will take place much further north - Taiwan and the N Pacific
Yes. This is true. Policy seems pretty clear we won't be operating on our own. We will be operating with traditional and emerging allies.
Though no matter what the scenario, the RAAF will need to be mobile, potentially dispersed and expeditionary. Otherwise, the F35's are an airborne Maginot Line if solely Australian based. Operating from Indonesian or New Guinea bases, or from Malaysia and Singapore, the RAAF can patrol or interdict primary and secondary shipping lanes ( as was done in WW2 ) which are critical to China. I've attached a wayward article from Forbes has a nice map showing the huge distances involved.
There's considerable logic in a big, heavy fighter bomber like the new F15 if we are planning to fight a second rate power in the Indonesian archipelago. But China is all but named as the threat. And the F15's role was to work with the range limited F35's and Growlers anyways.
The Australian Air Force Can Send Just Two Fighters Into Battle With China