Had Pledged To Purchase 100 F-35s

Officials in the Australian Ministry Of Defence warned parliament earlier this week the country could be forced to reduce its target order of 100 F-35 joint strike fighters over continuing cost overruns.

According to The Australian newspaper, Deputy Defence Secretary Shane Carmody told a panel looking into the country's military relationship with the US stated the cost of the F-35s -- which has already swelled from $45 million to $60 million Australian -- could soar even further if recent Congressional cuts in the F-35 program result in Lockheed Martin curtailing production.

The US may reduce its initial order of 2500 planes by as much as 1/5, according to the newspaper. That means added costs, spread out over fewer aircraft -- and higher prices.

"A factor in the cost blowout, I think, would be if the US decided to reduce the number of aircraft it is acquiring," said Carmody.

Australia had committed to purchasing 100 of the multi-role fighter aircraft, to replace the country's aging 71 F/A-18 attack aircraft and 26 F-111 tactical fighter bombers. The first F-35 is to be delivered to Australia in 2014.

Australia is also sharing part of the $256 billion development cost with the US and other allied countries, which allowed the total initial cost of the program to be reduced to $16 billion.

However, with development costs surging, the US is said to be contemplating scrapping plans to build a CTOL -- or conventional takeoff-and-landing -- version of the F-35, the variant Australia wants. That means the Australian air force might have to settle for the pricier VTOL (vertical takeoff-and-landing) version of the F-35... and as many as 50 fewer of them.

"We certainly have some concerns if the (joint strike fighter) gets very expensive," said Carmody, "...and ultimately, sometimes you have to cut your cloth, but we are a long way short of that at this point."

Canberra has still "not committed on aircraft type or numbers," according to Carmody.

While other defence ministry officials insist plans haven't changed, there is talk of using additional unmanned aerial vehicles to offset the lack of fighters to maintain air superiority.

"I can't imagine that in the end we would only buy 50 fighters... but there are other options, including complementing the fighters with UAVs, which may mean you can have fewer of them," said professor Ross Babbage of the Kokoda Foundation, a defense think tank.

"I don't think anyone has realized yet just how much more capable the JSF will be than the current generation of fighters," Professor Babbage added.

FMI: www.lockheedmartin.com, www.defence.gov.au