OZ: Raptors? JSF? No, thanks.

Australian Government decided this week which aircraft will become the backbone of the RAAF for the next decade. At the beginning, it was thought that Oz would buy the JSF, as the F-22 Raptor (the first option) cannot be sold outside the US. But both jets are getting a bumpy trip to the market.

In fact, the Raptor is already calling wolf to save itself. After being reduced once and again the number of aircrafts the USAF will acquire, Pentagon is out of ideas of what to do to pledge for more Raptors. So now they link the jet production to the loss of jobs. Give us Raptors or people will lose their jobs.

The message is so good (although not quite accurate with reality) that both the Navy and the Army are using the same system to beg for more funding for their submarines and tanks, respectively.

But at the end, it seems like the JSF will lose another buyer. Wallabies decided to bet for an ol’ known: the Hornet. Well, the Super Hornet. Well, actually, the Growler.

Reasons argued for this decision were that the Growler cost much less than the others (it is just an update of the already purchased Super Hornets) and they get in exchange Electronic Warfare and Counter Terrorism/Insurgent Warfare capabilities.

Of course, the fact that a Growler shot down a Raptor in an air-to-air combat dogfight exercise was not relevant. In the end, shooting down Raptors (the most advanced jet ever built) is becoming very usual.




Photo: The DEW Line

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