THE Abbott Government is set to green-light the nations biggest ever military purchase up to 86 American-made stealth fighters for the RAAF.
The planes – some of which are expected to be based in the Top End – will cost about $90 million each when they roll off the assembly line between 2018 and 2020.
The overall project will cost about $14 billion during the 30-year life of the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter. It is understood a submission to buy will be presented to Cabinet’s National Security Committee for approval within weeks.
The head of the Pentagon’s largest ever defence project to buy 2400 of the “fifth generation’’ fighters has assured Australia the controversial project was “back on track’’ and Australian jets would be delivered on time and on cost.
US Air Force Lieutenant General Chris Bogdan said that apart from some “trust and credibility’’ issues with the prime contractor Lockheed Martin and engine maker Pratt and Whitney, the JSF program was hitting all of its milestones.
“The leadership of Lockheed Martin is doing a much better job of listening to the customer, which is us,’’ he said.
The first two RAAF jets are on the production line at Lockheed’s Fort Worth factory and the first aircraft are due to arrive at RAAF base Williamtown in 2018 with the first operational and training squadrons online in 2020.
The JSF will replace the ageing F/A-18 Hornet fighter planes and will give the RAAF a major edge over any regional force apart from those allies such as Singapore who will also buy the jet.
At a Williams Foundation air power seminar in Canberra yesterday, RAAF fighter pilot Squadron Leader Matt Harper and US Marine Corps fighter pilot Lieutenant Colonel Chip Berke both sang the praises of the super computerised, fully networked stealth aircraft.
“Stealth makes you unstoppable and reduces an adversary’s situational awareness to almost zero,’’ Sqn Ldr Harper said. Lt-Colonel Berke said the old mantra of “speed is life, more is better’’ had been replaced by “information is life, more is better’’.
“Information is far more valuable than speed,’’ he said. “The F-35 has no peer in terms of information dominance.”