Posted on 12/13/2012 12:42:45 PM PST by Dundee
AUSTRALIA'S Super Hornet fighter-bombers, including 12 fitted out for the RAAF as "Growler" electronic warfare aircraft, will be a major part of the nation's arsenal for many years and will not merely be a stopgap until the arrival of the promised Joint Strike Fighter.
Defence Minister Stephen Smith said yesterday that, quite apart from bridging a capability gap if the new JSFs were delayed, the government was now looking at the longer-term use of the Super Hornet and the Growler.
Mr Smith said that, putting aside concerns about delays to the JSFs, standard Super Hornets and Growlers used by the US during the campaign in Libya had demonstrated the aircraft's high-edge performance.
"(That) is now seeing people look more generally at the longer-term utility of Super Hornets and Growlers in combination with the Joint Strike Fighter," Mr Smith said.
He said the government had written to the US asking if it would agree to sell Australia 24 more Super Hornets. The RAAF already has 24 of the jets...
(Excerpt) Read more at theaustralian.com.au ...
Another squadron of F's means we could retire the most worn out of our A/Bs and delay the F-35 purchases until about 2020 or so.
Not ideal (a mix of F-22 and F-15SE would have been), but the best solution given the circumstances.
The F-35s are a fluke.. It would be like downgrading back to f-100s or an F-4f..
What Australia needs are F-15(e)s and F-22s..
Not sure what can/will happen with the current administration, trying to kill any defense we allies have.. :/
(BTW, my bird was F-16)..
To be somewhat fair though, it was Congress 10 or more years ago that nixed the sale of F-22 to Australia and Japan (the two countries rich enough, trusted enough, and interested enough to buy them).
Yes, and we’ll throw in California for no additional charge!
It was, I believe, when the dems took over in 2007.. and more or less blackmailed Bush2 into agreeing with whatever they said.. >.< not 100% accurate, but close enough.. you get the picture.
My dream was to fly one of those birds (F-22.. but at the time, YF-22).. I saw the power of that damn(ed) bird... and the (’ed’) was intended... it is a negative toward the demicraps (rats) that pretty much destroyed the chance we had at air (AND ground) combat for the next 2 generations.
The sale will fly through the Pentagon and Congress.
sorry can’t ,you’re country is not ruled by Islam ,fix that and no prob dude
The sale makes sense and will no doubt be swiftly approved. Australia is a reliable ally and is well-liked by the US public.
Forgive me. I had to click the link to assure myself that a quality newspaper had actually written such a clunky headline.
That’s what Canada should have done. Get involved with the Super Hornet years ago instead of the F-35 Edsel. Now we’re pulling out of the F-35 fiasco and starting from scratch. You folks “down under” have got it right !
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