The
US Deputy Defence Secretary has written
Brendan Nelson to say that the F22 will not be offered as an export to Australia. The F22 is one of two fifth generation platforms, the JSF is the other, and more than a few in politics and policy have argued for the F22 instead of the JSF to be the RAAF's next platform.
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I made the comment on catallaxy files
that bad governance and military intrusion
was endemic enough in the South Pacific that there may be value in Australia or New Zealand extending its institutions for the purpose of stabilising some of those nations. However I don't think it would be of value unless the island nations military came under the central command of the ADF. This would require a short-term transition of the ADF to a multi-ethnic regional force.
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The Pacific Theatre was half of the second world war but has suffered from an over-focus on the history of the European theatre. As a result there are many myths and misconceptions relating to Japan's advance through South East Asia and the South Pacific.
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Project Air5077 will be the Australian Air Force's (RAAF) Airborne Early Warning and Control component (AEW&C) of Australia's force projection. The Wedgetail is based on the 737-700 IGW platform with Boeing as the prime contractor in the project. The radar system is from Northrop-Grumman, while locally, BAE System Australia, Boeing Australia and Qantas Defence Systems are also involved.
The contracts and projects Boeing has been involved in with the USAF have come under congressional and media scrutiny recently. This is due to the inappropriate manner in which several of this projects were sought, priced and inflated. This has not been the case with the Wedgetail project. The project is under-budget, on-time and by the RAAF's determination, an extremely well managed project. The Wedgetail has also spawned interest from other nations that are seeking regional power projection; including Turkey, Korea and Italy. (more)
