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comment by exe
exe  ·  3878 days ago  ·  link  ·    ·  parent  ·  post: F'd: How the U.S. and Its Allies Got Stuck with the World's Worst New Warplane

It doesn't help that the F-35 is going to be the only fighter that Australia is going to be operating in any major capacity for the next couple of decades - considering how we held on to the F-111s for dear life until Parliament threw up their hands because they were getting too expensive to maintain. It seems that the F-35s are replacements for the F-111s which were designed specifically as long range bombers and served their role perfectly. The F/A-18 (I think this is Australia's primary air superiority figher at the moment) are ageing and keeping them airworthy is proving inefficient and costly. F-22s can't be purchased due to an export ban. It seems like it was a very expensive gamble from the beginning and by the looks of it, it might not pay off.





BlackBird  ·  3878 days ago  ·  link  ·  

Unfortunately so.

What absolutely staggers me beyond belief is this export ban to Allied nations; I understand countries like North Korea can't purchase F/A-18's - but the US and Australia, regardless of one's opinion, have alliances on multiple fronts. Why the heck can't we be allowed F/A18's in the shopping cart?