Wedgetail project faces delay

Posted on: Jun. 26th, 2006 || Source: theage.com.au | E-mail Article | Print Article

The RAAF's new Wedgetail airborne early warning aircraft face delays in the latest problem to beset Australian Defence Force's high-tech procurement projects.

The first two of six aircraft were initially scheduled for delivery in November, in what has been regularly billed as an exemplary defence project.

But that was then pushed out to early next year, and it now appears to be substantially further away.

A defence spokeswoman said only that a potential schedule slip in the delivery of the Wedgetail had been identified.

"The Defence Materiel Organisation (DMO) has arranged for the program manager and several key members of his team to meet with Boeing representatives in the United States this week, in order to conduct an evaluation and gauge the impact of any such delay," she said.

A spokesman for Boeing, the Wedgetail prime contractor, said the delivery program was under review.

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