Australia's new joint strike fighters will be delivered late

Posted on: Aug. 18th, 2004 || Source: theage.com.au | E-mail Article | Print Article

Australia's new joint strike fighters will be delivered late, creating a potential crisis for the air force, the head of the Defence Science and Technology Organisation Roger Lough has revealed.

Dr Lough also said that it would be too risky to keep the ageing F-111 fleet flying. Experts say this will leave a significant gap in military capability, removing Australia's capacity to strike distant targets from the air.

The organisation is co-ordinating Australia's role in the JSF project and evaluating the lifespan of the F-111s, which are more than 40 years old. They are to be retired in 2010. Opposition defence spokesman Kim Beazley has said he would keep the F-111s flying to cover any gap caused by the late delivery of the JSF, scheduled for 2012.

But Dr Lough said it was "too risky and not technically feasible" to keep them in the air beyond 2010.

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