"Are you telling me that aussie defence leadership has been on the money WRT major aquisitions.......come on dude, now you are taking the piss!"
Let me see:
AWACS: Late but will be the best capability in the region. Not such a bad decision.
C17: Had to bypass the system to get them but a bit of a no brainer given our current ops, a capability that was denied by the white paper process.
A330 TANKERS: Late but once again will be a fantastic capability and a better buy over the 767 tanker.
JSF: Only serious option. F22, Raphael, Burofighter all have serious flaws as a long term buy.
Super Hornet: If your serious about what capability you want available from 2010-2014 this a great buy and the only serious option. Will also be a useful capability until 2020.
Looks like the problems are in the project management side rather than the capability decisions. So tell how have the RAAF screwed up? Other than in the uniformed opinions expressed in this thread. The government of the day should look closely at all decisions, but once informed don't expect any huge change on the blue suit side of the show.
Yes in 20 years time we might look back and second guess all the decisions but right now things don't look to bad.