PETER LA FRANCHI / CANBERRA & PAUL LEWIS / WASHINGTON DC
Latter phases of Australian air force's Air 6000 programme may also include UCAVs, says defence force paper
The Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) is again seriously considering the Joint Strike Fighter (JSF) as a potential candidate for its mutli-phase Air 6000 future fighter programme.
The RAAF is also opening the door to the possibility that the later phases of its requirement could be fiilled by an unmanned combat air vehicle (UCAV). Australia has decided to spilt the Air 6000 programme into three phases to take advantage of the new technology maturing during the course of the acquisition, and to spread the projected $6 billion cost of replacing the RAF's Boeing F/A18A/Bs and General Dynamics F/R-111C/Gs in 2012-20.
The focus of Phase IA is on a manned aircraft, with the Dassault Rafale, Eurofighter Typhoon and the Lockheed Martin/Boeing F-22 all viewed as contenders. The RAAF is looking to broaden its options to include the Lockheed Martin F-35. JSF programme office officials confirm that an RAAF team is scheduled to visit the USA late this month to discuss the programme and its technology.
This is viewed as a precursor to Australia opening negotiations on joining the newly launched $19 billion system development and demonstration (SDD) phase. Australia is interested in joining SDD as a Level 3 player, which would nominally entail taking a 1-2% stake in the development. According to sources within the Australian aerospace industry, which would stand to benefit from joining JSF, RAAF participation would carry a price tag of $175 million. In 1997, the RAAF had planned to join the concept demonstration phase of JSF as an observer, but the idea was dropped. According to a recent Australian Defence Force (ADF) presentation at a conference in Washington DC, the follow-on Phases IB and IC "have great potential to include a UCAV". This is being considered as part of an analysis now under way and which must be completed for force structure recommendations to be made by 2005.
The ADF paper says that, while risk has to be reduced, "there is a clear remit for Air 6000 to consider UCAVs". Full interoperability with the Phase IA manned fighter and other assets needs to be factored-in to UCAVs from the beginning, the paper adds. According to funding documents for the Air 6000 project A$3.2 billion ($1.7 billion) is available in the current 10-year Australian Defence Capability Plan to support Phase 1A from 2007, with deliveries commencing in 2012.
The total value of Phase 1A is forecast at more than A$6 billion, while a second Phase 1B purchase, commencing in 2010 with deliveries from 2015, is placed at between A$4.5 billion and A$6 billion. Air 6000 faces a major funding challenge from the Royal Australian Navy's project Sea 4000 airwarfare destroyer programme, due to receive initial funding in 2005. This, when combined with Air 6000, would account for 50% of Austrailian forward defence capital equipment spending for a number of years after 2010.
Source: Flight International
