Wiley
Nice post and I'll look out for the book, sounds like an interesting read.
But unless I am a bit slow, what the friggin hell does that have to do with the decision on which new jet the RAAF should buy? Unless your the author and your trying to move a few units?
I took this thread of on a bit of a trip about the carrier, becuase I think it would be a handy addition to ADF. With the purchase of the 30 x F22 and 82 x F18 E/FG, the carrier would have given us an airbase to operate off, if a friendly country couldn't be found, or was out of reach.
Or the other suggestion that I agreed with, that as we are unlikely to get a carrier, the new model F15's would provide extcellent backup to the 22's.
I simple can't accept that we are going to seriously think about replacing the capability of the F111 with the limited capability of the JSF. Its a loser on range, payload, single engine etc etc.
My preference in all honesty would be to scrap the current hornet upgrade, that seems to be another winner, and replace both the f111 & the F18 around 2010, with the F22 & F18E/F/G or F15. And purchase 5 more A330's for support.
I'll stop now before I repeat my shopping list.