And; regarding profligate spending on defence worldwide, consider this article and numerous others on the same website: http://www.marketoracle.co.uk/Article27737.html
Pardon the slight thread drift, but a cost-effective approach to defence planning will likely eventually be forced upon Australia by emerging world economic circumstances.
We could reasonably quickly fix some capabilities gaps by just storing deficient/inappropriate hardware, shaving or killing off some problematic programs and spending more modest funding on refurbishing/optimising in-service hardware like C-130H, Sea Kings, Blackhawks and Iroquois awaiting disposal. The primary aim should be to restore/enhance some lost capabilities ASAP.
Last edited by Bushranger 71; 25th Apr 2011 at 23:17.