Global Hawk still in sights for RAAF

The Australian ^ | 18th March 2009 | Patrick Walters

[naturalman1975]

THE RAAF still aims to acquire the Global Hawk unmanned surveillance aircraft as early as 2017.

While the Rudd Government has deferred a decision to acquire the highly sophisticated aircraft, the new defence white paper is expected to outline the requirement for a high-altitude long-range surveillance platform.

Defence Minister Joel Fitzgibbon announced earlier this month that Australia would not sign up to the system design and development (SDD) phase of the US Navy's Broad Area Maritime Surveillance (BAMS) program, which includes the Global Hawk.

The RAAF plans to replace its 32-year-old fleet of Orion AP-3C maritime surveillance planes with a new patrol aircraft, the Boeing P-8A Poseidon, together with unmanned aircraft from later next decade.

Mr Fitzgibbon said the introduction of an advanced new aircraft such as Global Hawk, at the same time as the RAAF was moving to other new fixed-wing aircraft, would have put serious workforce pressures on the defence force.

Budget pressures on defence's forward capital equipment program also contributed to the deferment of acquisition plans for an unmanned surveillance aircraft.

[rednesss]

At $120,000,000+ a piece you can’t expect to afford too many of them.

[DCBryan1]

I dont think a global hawk can drop a Mark 48 or Mark 50ish torpedo...or even sonobuoys.....I’d keep the P3s if I were Austrailia....esp with the Blk 3 upgrade for firing harpoon/penguin ASM missiles.

[Ramius]

I think they’re saying they’ll replace the P-3’s with the new P-8, based on the 737, IIRC.

[myknowledge]

P-8 Poseidon cutaway.