JSF delay may weaken defences
Cameron Stewart
August 25, 2006
THE nation's largest defence project, the $16 billion purchase of Joint Strike Fighters, could be delayed by a year at the request of the US Navy.
The move, if approved by the US Office of the Secretary of Defence, would add millions of dollars to the cost of the new planes for Australia, which plans to purchase up to 100 of them.
A year-long delay in the arrival of the JSF to Australia would also complicate plans to retire the ageing F-111 bombers from 2010.
The US Navy and Marine Corps have this month requested a 14-month delay in their initial purchases of the yet-to-fly JSF, preferring instead to spend the money on other naval priorities.
Such a move, if accepted by the US Defence Secretary, would have a ripple-like effect on the entire JSF production schedule, which aims to build more than 2000 of the planes for the US Navy and US Air Force and for nine other countries including Australia.
The RAAF hopes to receive its first JSF in 2013, but this now looks highly unlikely.
The US Navy's proposal, if approved, would be the second serious schedule change for the JSF in the past two years. In 2004, the program was delayed when designers of the yet-to-be-built plane struggled to reduce its weight.
The delays and production problems have so far pushed the expected fly-away cost of the plane for Australia from about $45 million to more than $60million.
Defence Minister Brendan Nelson has remained a staunch supporter of the JSF, but concedes that it will be the most challenging defence project in Australia's history.
Australia has paid $155 million to jointhe design of the JSF but it does nothave to commit to buying the plane until 2008.
In addition to its weight problems, which have since been solved, the JSF has been beset by serious software problems, which have prevented its hi-tech warfare systems from being properly integrated.
Defence experts in Canberra say these technical issues, production delays and cost overruns are inevitable in such a massive and ambitious project.
They cite the teething problems experienced by the F-111 strike bomber, pointing out that it became an excellent aircraft for the RAAF.
But critics say Australia should choose a tried and tested aircraft such as a version of the F-16 fighter jet or the potent but expensive F-22 Raptor.
The timing of the JSF's arrival in Australia is politically sensitive because it will almost certainly not arrive until after the F-111 strike bombers have been withdrawn from service.
Critics say this leaves Australia without a frontline strike bomber between the retirement of the F-111 from 2010 and the arrival of the JSF some time from 2013.
To partially offset this, the RAAF has ordered long-range cruise missiles - the first of their kind in Southeast Asia - to attach to its ageing F/A-18 fighters in an attempt to increase their potency.
Dr Nelson says the biggest threat to the JSF is the US political system, with Congress consistently threatening to cut the budget of the JSF program.
If this occurred, the price of the plane would skyrocket, forcing Canberra to consider alternative aircraft.
The first test flight of the JSF is scheduled to take place in Texas this spring.