Delay on jet strike force

Published: Dec 07, 2005
Source: www.theadvertiser.news.com.au



AUSTRALIA would have to wait until at least 2014 to take delivery of its first group of next generation F-35 Joint Strike Fighter aircraft.

With the RAAF's fleet of ageing fighters requiring expensive upgrades or maintenance to remain airborne, any delays to the JSF could leave the nation's air defences dangerously exposed.

The planes also could become very expensive for taxpayers.

The so-called "fifth generation" JSF carried a fly away price "today" of about $67 million.

Builder, U.S. giant Lockheed Martin, said Australia's first JSF would be built in mid-2012 but an operational squadron would not be ready to operate until 2014.continue..