Originally Posted by
rattman
Classic hornet is gone from RAAF service. RAAF will be super hornets / growlers and F-35's
buying anything more now would probably be a bad move, only way is if there is something modern that has a way cheaper per hour than both the F-35 and super hornet, maybe buying / leasing some of them.
1. Classic isn’t done. It’s still flying with 75 Sqn at RAAF Tindal (but it will be done soon...)
2. That was the one point. There was (is) no other suitable fighter to replace classic hornet (assuming 5th Gen capes are a driving factor).
3. The other point I was trying to make is that there has been no real strat bomber (or F-111) requirement for the previous 20-30 years. It could (potentially) be argued there is an emerging requirement for this sort of capability. But this isn’t a force structure issue (of the argument to replace fighters with bombers) - the fact remains that the F-35 purchase was appropriate at the time, and remains so. If anything the RAAF will need more fighters before they want to buy $500m a pop bombers...