FLIGHT

AUSTRALIA
SPECIAL REPORT
��� was reduced by two thirds. Vast swathes
of airspace suddenly appeared wide open.
Domes that previously overlapped were now
far apart. “This part of the simulation shows
how much the F-35A’s stealth features degrade
the detection capabilities of the enemy,”
said the technician. “Previously, you were
seeing the enemy’s radar coverage if the F-35A
was a non-stealthy aircraft.”
IMPORTANCE OF STEALTH
Indeed, a major element of the F-35’s victory
in the Japanese F-X competition was its
stealthiness. Aside from the utility of the
F-35’s stealth in combat situations, it also allows
the aircraft to operate closer to sensitive
geographic regions in peacetime with less
chance of being detected. Perhaps more important
in Japan’s decision was the fact that
the F-35 is likely to play an increasingly important
role in future coalition war efforts.
“[The F-35 programme] is about the US and
close allies joining together on a common system
that they can work together with, and fly
and deter potential adversaries for the next
20-30 years,” says Lockheed’s Scott. “No other
airplane can offer this level of connection and
interoperability.” He points out that the
USAF, US Navy, and US Marine Corps are already
receiving the aircraft, which eight nations,
including Australia, jointly developed.
Israel and Japan have also purchased the F-35
through the US government’s foreign military
sales (FMS) mechanism.
Boeing, for its part, has proposed several updates
for the Super Hornet under its “International
Roadmap” offering for the aircraft. Enhancements
include a full touchscreen display
in the cockpit, conformal fuel tanks, an integrated
infrared search and track (IRST) sensor, and
up-rated engines. Boeing has also proposed a
large external pod (optimised for low observability)
for the internal carriage of weapons.
But Scott questions the viability of such
36 | Flight International | 19-25 February 2013
efforts: “We built a very good fourth-generation
fighter with the F-16. We know what you
can do to upgrade and enhance them. They
reach a fundamental limit. You just can’t add
in the stealth and systems that you can with a
clean sheet design.”
Although maintaining a mixed fleet of F-35s
and Super Hornets for the long term would
likely be more expensive for Australian taxpayers
than operating a single type, the ultimate
question is how effective such a fleet would be
in the event of war. When asked about the viability
of the Super Hornet in the coming decades,
Royce indicates there is no black-andwhite
answer: “It’s difficult to say at this point
because of the uncertainty regarding the use of
stealth aircraft in peer-to-peer combat. In the
case of Australia, they are likely to be using
their Super Hornets as part of coalition operations
around the world or against non-peer opponents
in their own region. It is extremely unlikely
we’ll see Australia fighting any major war
by itself in the current security environment.”
“The prospect of a showdown between
RAAF Super Hornets and Su-27/30 variants
in the [Asia-Pacific] is something that pops up
on a lot of enthusiast boards, but in a real
shooting war, the air battle would be more
than just a fighter-to-fighter conflict,” he adds.
“It would involve a mixture of naval assets,
intelligence assets, cruise missiles, strike aircraft,
etc. That’s just too complex a situation to
break down by which nation has the ‘best
fighter’, as enthusiasts are apt to do.”
Irrespective of the merits of each aircraft or
how they will fit into the RAAF’s structure in
the future, Australia’s ruling Labor party has set
an election for September. Defence experts feel
the government may decide whether to double
down on the Super Hornet or push through
with the F-35A in the months before the election.
The future of Australian combat airpower
is in the balance, and will inevitably be hostage
to political and budgetary calculations. �
The Super Hornet is
popular with RAAF pilots
Australian defence ministry
C-17s have revolutionised Australian airlift
TRANSPORTS
Heavy
lifting
Operating six C-17s in Afghanistan
and for relief efforts, the RAAF is
the Asia-Pacific’s most capable
service where airlift is concerned
GREG WALDRON SINGAPORE
he big news at the 2011 Avalon show was
TAustralia’s decision to obtain a fifth
Boeing C-17 strategic airlifter. Two years on,
this aircraft has arrived and another C-17 has
been ordered and delivered, bringing the
Royal Australian Air Force’s total of the type
to six examples. When asked about how this
has changed capabilities, Canberra’s Airlift
Group commander Air Cdre Gary Martin
uses only one word: “Unbelievably.”
Martin says the C-17 has revolutionised the
RAAF’s ability to travel rapidly between
points with more than five times as much
cargo per flight as the Lockheed Martin C-130.
In one airlift operation between the United
Arab Emirates and Afghanistan in September
2012, a single C-17 moved cargo weighing
one million pounds, much of it outsized, in
only four days. He estimates it would have
taken two C-130s two months to transport the
same payload.
The C-17 is emblematic of a broader transformation
of the RAAF’s airlift capabilities. In
the 10 years from 2006 to 2016, the RAAF’s airlift
fleet will drop to 46 from 47 aircraft, but this
slight decline will be more than made up for
with capacity, which will rise to 965t from
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