Posted on 01/17/2011 8:52:21 PM PST by ErnstStavroBlofeld
The latest signal that the Joint Strike Fighter (JSF) program is in even more trouble came from soon-to-resign US Defence secretary Robert Gates, in an interview given on his way to his current talks in Beijing.
China, Gates said, has “the potential to put some of our capabilities at risk”.
His comments were almost entirely directed at the sudden, unpredicted, early appearance of China’s J-20 answer to the JSF, less than a year after Russia flew its response, in the PAK-FA.
The evasive language of the Gates interview puts Canberra on further notice that the centerpiece of Australian defence planning is under siege.
And no doubt makes for a jolly time in the discussions now going on between himself and the China leadership cadre.
Over the holiday season Gates has announced that the US will put one model of the JSF, with short take-off and landing capabilities, on probation. It’s not the model on which Australia hangs its future air superiority, but it erodes the battered finances of the entire program.
He also foreshadowed reductions in the US order for the other models, thus risking a huge increase in unit cost, and announced more orders for FA 18 Super Hornets to cover delivery short falls, as did Australia, last year.
(Excerpt) Read more at crikey.com.au ...
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