We get vulnerable fighter jets
Fri "The Australian"
We get vulnerable fighter jets
By Cameron Stewart
April 30, 2004
AUSTRALIA'S new fighter jets are likely to have fewer stealth features than the same model being built for the US military, making them more vulnerable in combat.
Doubts about the stealth capability of the export version of the Joint Strike Fighter come in the wake of audit reports and testimony to the US Congress outlining a string of recent setbacks to the $US240 billion ($335 billion) JSF program.
In its biggest defence purchase ever, Australia plans to pay about $16 billion for up to 100 of the yet-to-be-built JSFs to replace its ageing F/A-18 fighters and F-111 bombers from 2012.
However, as The Australian reported yesterday, a blowout in costs, production schedules and design problems have cast a cloud over whether the JSF will be delivered in time.
And the latest edition of the Jane's International Defence Review reports that JSF program officials in the US have indicated there will be fewer stealth features on the export version of the fighter, being built by Lockheed Martin.
"The clear implication is that the 'international' JSF would be easier to detect by hostile radars and would consequently be more susceptible to attack," the report states. "That in turn would have consequences for the overall effectiveness of the fighter."
The Pentagon has traditionally been reluctant to offer the same level of stealth technology to other countries, even close allies such as Australia, for fear that it could fall into hostile hands.
Aldo Borgu of the Australian Strategic Policy Institute said any cutback to the stealth features of the JSF would be a blow because "the Government has stressed that it was the stealth features of the aircraft that put it above any other competitors".
However, John Howard yesterday defended the JSF, saying it was a fantastic aircraft concept.
"You get a lot of these reports about cost blowouts," the Prime Minister said. "Cost blowouts do occur and have always occurred in every country in relation to the development of new technology connected with new weaponry. It's often difficult to forecast and forsee in advance what's going to happen.
"(But) It's a fantastic aircraft concept, it really is, and it will give an enormous defence reassurance to the Royal Australian Air Force when we get it."
An audit report by the US General Accounting Office issued on March 25 but unreported in Australia concluded that the JSF program was now at a "critical crossroad" and that recent setbacks would "add significant cost and delay to the development schedule".
The main problem is the aircraft is significantly overweight, which could limit its combat effectiveness.
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