Australia’s first F-35A fighter jets arrive but doubts about cost persist
- The Australian government has budgeted US$17 billion for 72 of the aircraft despite issues with the radar software and increased risk of neck injury to lower-weight pilots when they ejected
Australia will take delivery of its first two F-35A Joint Strike Fighters, with the aircraft arriving at the Williamtown RAAF base on Monday.
The F-35A Joint Strike Fighter has been labelled the most advanced in the world but it has also been widely criticised for cost overruns and technical problems.
The commonwealth auditor general last week released a report into the US$17 billion procurement of the fighter jets, which found the total could be even higher and the cost of maintaining and operating the fleet was unknown.
“The developmental nature of the international JSF programme means that Defence does not yet know the final purchase price of future Australian JSF aircraft, or their whole-of-life operating and support costs,” the report states. “The history of defence acquisitions in Australia demonstrates that inadequate sustainment cost estimates at project approval have led to cost implications once the platform is in service.”
Defence has previously warned the government that support costs for the F-35 “remain high and the economies of scale were not yet evident”.
The report also found delays in the upgrading of airfields and warned of a shortage of spare parts.
Lockheed-Martin is building three models of the F-35 for the US military and 10 countries that have ordered them: Britain, Australia, Norway, Italy, Turkey, Denmark, the Netherlands, Israel, South Korea and Japan.
But the programme, launched in 2001, has been dogged by huge cost overruns and technical problems that blew out its budget by nearly 70 per cent. Britain slashed its orders, and the decision of the Howard government in 2002 to buy the jet fighter has been heavily criticised as hasty and ill-judged as cost increases, delays and doubts about its capability have mounted up.