A draft paper being circulated within the Australian Department of Defence is proposing a shift to "block buys" for new major equipment orders. This is expected to directly affect the Project Air 6000 replacement for the Royal Australian Air Force's Boeing F/A-18 Hornets.
A separate issues-paper dealing with the fighter replacement is to be released this week.
The Australian Department of Defence draft paper discusses the implications of Revolution in Military Affairs (RMA)concepts on future capabilities to be supported by the Australian Defence Force. A public version of the paper is to be released in early December.
The draft paper warns that Air 6000 fighter costs will place a severe funding burden on the Australian Defence Force. It says that the 1981 acquisition of 75 F/A-18s would today cost A$5 billion ($3.2 billion) and warns that, "if Australia were to spend the same amount of money today to buy, say, the Lockheed Martin F-22 Raptor-it could afford to buy fewer than 20".
The proposed block buy approach would aim to do away with "the past 'boa-constrictor' approach to acquisitions-to making smaller, more frequent buys of equipment that even out cashflows and automatically incorporate newer models".
The draft paper also proposes increased use of equipment leases and military off-the-shelf acquisitions.
The draft RMA paper warns that the RAAF is facing a major obsolescence problem by 2015, including the F/A-18, the General Dynamics F-111, and Lockheed Martin AP-3C Orion maritime patrol aircraft.
Source: Flight International
