The parliamentary library has released a research note which updates information on the JSF project [PDF] and Australia's position and options for it. The two main issues identified are increasing cost of the platform and Australian access to source code.

The cost of the JSF procurement is estimated at being somewhere in the order of 12 to 15.5 billion; up from 10.5 billion. That is not unusual in defence projects which are limited run and cutting edge technology. By way of comparison, the Australian government spends 16.7 billion on defence each year.

Other issues with costs include the possibility that the UK might pull out of the program over disputes with the Pentagon over access to source code. If this occurs the JSF, already a short-run aircraft, will become even shorter run. This will drive up unit costs for the aircraft.

Access to source code is an issue for Australia too. From the research note;

... questions about the release of the computer source code that makes the aircraft so unique have emerged as a potential showstopper for international clients.

The source code in question refers to the millions of lines of computer code that allow this 21st-century aircraft to fly and to fight.

Without complete access to this source code, Australia will be unable to modify or even maintain the aircraft independently--as it has done so successfully for many years with the F-111. The question about the release of the source code to Australia has not been confirmed publicly.

It is understood that maintenance of the JSF will be undertaken in a regional logistics and maintenance centre run by Lockheed Martin.

Without access to the source code, Australia may in coming decades be put in the invidious position of having no option but to pay whatever Lockheed Martin asks during future contract negotiations for the ongoing maintenance of Australia's strike fighters.

In other words, vendor lock-in.

The research note poses other issues, such as the increase in the technology and usefulness of the unmanned aerial vehicles [UAV]. It is possible that UAV will be a disruptive technology and leave the JSF as the last of manned strike aircraft.

Another issue raised is the choice of a less-stealthier platform, such as the F15 which has no development costs associated with it. The research note argues that the technology of the JSF, such as network-centric warfare, will filter down into other platforms; effectively commoditising.

The JSF still has a ways to go, the first test flight has not been performed and many of the technologies for the JSF are yet to fully mature under development. Australia will be watching with interest.

More Information

More reading: Tags, JSF, ADF
Cam Riley: South Sea Republic. Freedom, liberty, equity and an Australian Republic.

Comments
  • cam . # .
    Follow up: From \"The Australian\" article ;

    Now, Australian scientists from the DSTO have identified \"major risks\" to the plane\'s performance in its complex software, advanced cockpit displays and central computer system. A DSTO report from December, obtained under Freedom of Information laws, warns that a \"technical risk assessment\" by DSTO found \"major risks\" inherent in the aircraft\'s cockpit display system.

    A friend of mine commented this is probably the reason why the Pentagon and LM don\'t want to share the source code with the other nations in the project - as it is crap and doesn\'t work.

    Further in the article;

    If Labor win Government we will closely examine the option of acquiring F-22 Raptors, at least in the initial procurement phase, to ensure Australia does not forfeit regional air superiority between retirement of the F-111s in 2012 and delivery of replacement JSFs in 2015 at the earliest and more likely 2017.

    The F111 is a strike aircraft, where the FA22 is an air superiority fighter. So they dont fulfil the same role or mission. So this is a bit of a misdirection, but the F18s are getting old too. Labor\'s foreign policy is more regionally focused and requires more regional power than the Liberal\'s foreign policy. So it is arguable that Labor sees a strong regionally focused military ad more important to their polices.

    cam
  • cam . # .
    And another: From the Department of Defence Media Mail List release;

    Defence strongly disagrees with media reporting today that the Joint Strike Fighter (JSF) program is `flawed\' and should be abandoned. This reporting, following on from a newspaper article today, misrepresents the true status of the JSF program.

    The original media report draws on excerpts from two risk assessments in 2005 by Australia\'s Defence Science and Technology Organisation (DSTO), which identified possible risks with aspects of the JSF program at that time.

    Contrary to media reporting that the DSTO assessments showed the JSF program to be flawed, these assessments are a good example of best practice project management to identify risk and to take early steps to reduce or eliminate it.

    cam