Australia's senior parliamentary oversight committee on defence has called for a full-scale inquiry into the Royal Australian Air Force's strike and air-superiority planning beyond 2012, after a preliminary review found that its existing plans appear to lack depth.
The proposed inquiry would incorporate Australia's proposed Lockheed Martin F-35 Joint Strike Fighter purchase, plus its plans for retiring the RAAF's General Dynamics F-111 fighters from 2010 and the long-term management of its Boeing F-18A/B fighters.
The inquiry call, proposed by the joint standing committee on foreign affairs, defence and trade, follows a preliminary review of RAAF fighter and strike plans out to 2012. That review, released on 11 August, says current planning by the Australian government may not result in an operational JSF capability until after 2014.
The committee says evidence provided to it by the Department of Defence in early August strongly points to Australia's stated JSF service entry target of 2012 having already slipped by at least one year in terms of initial aircraft delivery and by at least two years in terms of initial operating capability.
The committee says that as well as a full-scale parliamentary inquiry into air-superiority planning, the Australian government should prepare and release within the next two years a statement providing definitive dates for JSF entry into RAAF service and the implications of those dates for management of the F-111's withdrawal. It also wants that statement to detail options for retention of the F-111 if JSF is further delayed. Australia plans to make a final acquisition decision on the JSF during 2006.
In a related development, RAAF chief Air Marshal Angus Houston is flagging a potential restructuring of the service's fighter squadrons when the F-35 enters service. "Current thinking in RAAF is that a larger number of smaller squadrons might be preferable, providing greater flexibility for a relatively smaller force," he says.
"Options of 12 or 16 fully mission-capable aircraft are currently being examined, which would require either about 14 or 18 aircraft total in the squadron, allowing for maintenance requirements," he adds.
This would result in Australia's baseline JSF acquisition comprising around 70 aircraft, Houston says, based on four squadrons of 14 operationally ready aircraft, plus another 14 to support rotations. At least 18 training aircraft would also be required.
Meanwhile, Australia is to release tenders for its Project Air 5418 strike weapon project to Boeing, Lockheed Martin and Taurus Systems in late November, with a source selection planned for mid-2005. The companies are respectively promoting their SLAM-ER, AGM-158 JASSM and Taurus KEPD350 designs to meet the requirement.
PETER LA FRANCHI / CANBERRA
Source: Flight International
