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Thread: Austraia's F35. Lessons from a problematic purchase

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    Austraia's F35. Lessons from a problematic purchase

    Australia needs a new Bomber, because the F35 is inadequate for future strike operations. Was our Government conned by the US Government / defence industry?

    Our Air Force is incapable of defending our lines of communication , or prevent the lodgement of a hostile power in the INDO Pacific region. What now ?

    Australia’s F-35s: Lessons from a problematic purchase
    I’m pretty sure the dinosaurs died out when they stopped gathering food and started having meetings to discuss gathering food

    A bookshop is one of the only pieces of evidence we have that people are still thinking

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    The F-35 is only half a solution for Australia as it is a tactical, not strategic aircraft, ie. cannot replicate the long-range/payload package of the F-111.
    The article below answers some of those questions though.

    Closing Australia’s long-range strike gap requires a robust space capability | The Strategist
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    Quote Originally Posted by cripesamighty View Post
    The F-35 is only half a solution for Australia as it is a tactical, not strategic aircraft, ie. cannot replicate the long-range/payload package of the F-111.
    The article below answers some of those questions though.

    Closing Australia’s long-range strike gap requires a robust space capability | The Strategist
    Remember the abslute cluster **** of the F111 purchase. Delivery date blew out by years and years and the cost skyrocketed. One political commentator of the time was wont to refer to it as "The Flying Opera House".

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    Oh, the F-111 was a mess in the beginning alright - as most aircraft on the 'bleeding edge' of technology are. BUT, unlike the F-35, it's ROLE was very long-range interdiction/strike. Once the bugs were ironed out it was world class, and gave endless worries to the Warsaw Pact in Europe during the Cold War. Ask Gaddafi how well he slept after the Libya raid in 1986!

    The F-35 will eventually get sorted given enough money and because the project is now TBTF - too big to fail. BUT, even packed with tons of techno whiz-bang thingys and doo-hickeys, and no matter how well it's systems are integrated across the battlespace, the F-35 will only ever be a short-ranged tactical jet compared to the F-111.

    We still desperately need the F-111 airframes 'capabilities' in whatever type of platform(s) that may eventually be. That is the very crux of the problem which needs sorting.
    Life is just a series of obstacles preventing you from taking a nap.

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    The B21 seems to fit the bill, but it would have to be at the expense of the future submarines. The old argument of air vs sea will go thru its paces again. I have to admit, a force of B21's with an operational base in central Australia sounds good at face value. However, the infrastructure needed to support them [ target acquisition, damage assessment, weapons used, base protection, would make it a very expensive option indeed. The f35 will not provide the fleet with air cover any distance from the airfields, the only fleet defence option with the f35 is aircraft carriers, but without proper infrastructure around them [ anti air and anti submarine assets] the carriers are little more than expensive targets. I believe the B21 and nuclear submarines are our best option. We would have to discover massive oil deposits to afford that, but that would present another problem altogether. We will probably do what we have always done. Make do with what we have, and hope for the best, at the expense of the lives of our service men and women.

    Is the B-21 bomber a viable option for Australia? | The Strategist
    I’m pretty sure the dinosaurs died out when they stopped gathering food and started having meetings to discuss gathering food

    A bookshop is one of the only pieces of evidence we have that people are still thinking

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    We don't have to necessarily buy new American subs (if we could get over the nuclear bogieman). Another viewpoint is that we can always lease/share them. See article below...

    China and Russia's Worst Nightmare: America Starts Selling Nuclear Submarines | The National Interest
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    Quote Originally Posted by cripesamighty View Post
    We don't have to necessarily buy new American subs (if we could get over the nuclear bogieman). Another viewpoint is that we can always lease/share them. See article below...

    China and Russia's Worst Nightmare: America Starts Selling Nuclear Submarines | The National Interest
    "Between 1948-1967
    Penguin
    was home to the Royal Navy's Fourth Submarine Squadron before the First Australian Submarine Squadron was formed in 1968 and home-ported at HMAS
    Platypus
    , Neutral Bay.. " Sailors from the RAN did a basic submariners course and escape tank training in the UK and then trained as part of the RN crew, until the decision was made to buy the Oberons. The Aussies then went to the UK and formed the crews on our first Oberons. as they were built., training on RN subs while they waited. . There's no doubt the Brits make good submarines. Something like that may be feasible with the Astute class.
    I’m pretty sure the dinosaurs died out when they stopped gathering food and started having meetings to discuss gathering food

    A bookshop is one of the only pieces of evidence we have that people are still thinking

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    Tyler Rogoway's view of what the feasible options are for Australia, re: long range strike capabilities, that were mentioned in the last article as hypotheticals.

    Australia Buying B-21 Raider Stealth Bombers Is A Fantasy But Other Options Exist - The Drive
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  9. #9
    DiscoMick Guest
    Forward bases, subs, missiles and aerial refuelling sound logical to me, but I'm no expert.

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    And some B-1 bombers as icing on the cake for long range interdiction/strike...
    Life is just a series of obstacles preventing you from taking a nap.

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