The Australian government will decide whether to join the Joint Strike Fighter systems development and demonstration (SDD) phase in April, but defence minister Robert Hill says this does not mean there will be a decision to purchase the aircraft.
"Even if Australia decided to invest in the development of that project, it doesn't necessarily mean that JSF will be the aircraft that ultimately wins what will be Australia's largest ever military procurement," he adds.
Australia is due to begin a fighter competition in 2006, and launched a market survey last year to acquire pricing and capability data. Responses were submitted by BAE Systems, Boeing, Dassault and Lockheed Martin at the end of last month. It is unclear whether Sukhoi, which had expressed interest, has submitted a proposal.
During a visit to Australia last week, French defence minister Alain Richard said France is willing to consider joint Dassault Rafale production with Australia. "We can accept a large part of technology sharing," he said.
Meanwhile, the Netherlands government has approved a proposal to join the JSF development phases. A proposal has been submitted to parliament, which will make a final decision on 2 April.
It would cost the Netherlands $800 million to join the SDD, and the government has stated that the cost is such that it will probably buy the Lockheed MartinF-35 JSF to replace its Lockheed MartinF-16s in 2010-2025.
Source: Flight International
