Defence plan to scrap F-111s

"John Duncan" wrote in message
...




Because its still better at what it does than anything else for its
cost.


Wot it does is drop tactical nukes in a cold war Europe.....

Which country does Australia reckon it needs 'front-line a/c' to defend

itself from ?

The one that decides it can threaten us or our interests.


In the unrealistic above event how would ancient F-111s perform ?


Better than a JSF without in-flight refuelling.


Better yet (and for half the cost)...get some Su30's like everyone else
in the region.

Not this again. Can you say "compatible with allies" and
"serviceability"?

--
De Oppresso Liber.

Defender in Tas wrote:

I was referring to the A-400M which I understood to be close to
deployment

Not even close. In fact they just recently, after far too many years and
numerous reschedulings, selected the engine _design_ that will allow them
to go ahead with building the _prototype_.

and with substantial orders in Europe. Anyone have any
accurate information on this?

Numerous articles in AvLeak and just about any decent aviation magazine
will detail the tortuous process that has allowed them to stagger this
far, and the current state of the program. Expect further delays to the
in-service date.

Guy

On 5 Aug 2003 22:35:58 -0700, (Defender in Tas)
wrote:

I was referring to the A-400M which I understood to be close to
deployment

Is it ********.


greg

--
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Alley Gator. With those hypnotic big green eyes
Alley Gator. She'll make you 'fraid 'em
She'll chew you up, ain't no lie

On 5 Aug 2003 17:42:57 -0700, (Walt BJ) wrote:


What could replace it? Something with the same range and blind-bombing
capability. BTW I'd a lot rather re-engine the Vark and heat-armor the
front for high altitude supersonic cruise than load up on Hornets.

I always wondered what an F-111 would be like after an F-14B style heart
xplant.



greg

--
$ReplyAddress =~ s#\@.*$##; # Delete everything after the '@'
Alley Gator. With those hypnotic big green eyes
Alley Gator. She'll make you 'fraid 'em
She'll chew you up, ain't no lie

Brash wrote:
"David Bromage" wrote in message
...
What can our F-111s carry that an F-15E can't?

At a guess........... Harpoons.

Silly me, I should have known that. How hard would it be to clear the
F-15E for Harpoons?

Cheers
David

"David Bromage" wrote in message
...
Brash wrote:
"David Bromage" wrote in message
...
What can our F-111s carry that an F-15E can't?

At a guess........... Harpoons.

Silly me, I should have known that. How hard would it be to clear the
F-15E for Harpoons?

Cheers
David

I don't know, to be honest. From what little I know of it, I don't think it
would be too hard. The wing hard-points can handle the weight, and I'm told
that because the weapon and the aircraft are both digital its only a matter
of writing the proper software. IIRC, F15s were cleared to launch the
Pegasus(?) anti-satellite missile, and it was a big mother too.

--
De Oppresso Liber.

Drewe Manton wrote in message .4...
Pooh Bear waxed lyrical
:


Exactly who does Australia intend 'striking' ?

Australia is situated in one of the most unstable regions of the world
currently. A deep strike capability is very important to her, both as a
deterrant and as an effective force should it become necessary to fight.
That's like saying the US borders friends to the south and friends to the
north. . who does she intend striking (Oh, I forgot, they have "The War
Against Terrorism(TM))


Why shouldn't a 60's design a/c be scrapped ?

Because it's still in the premier league of strike aircraft and brings
massive capability to a small force. I suppose the USAF better get on
with scrapping all those B-52's and KC-135's and E-3's and E-8's and C-
130's eh? After all, they are *fifties* designs!


Which country does Australia reckon it needs 'front-line a/c' to
defend itself from ?

Look at a map, the Pacific rim is literally heaving with potential
threats. But Indonesia is still #1 I'd imagine.


Please give me one single reason why Indonesia would want to attack
Australia in any way?



In the unrealistic above event how would ancient F-111s perform ?

Given the avionics upgrade, it's raw performance, it's range of weapons
and the supremely high skill levels of the crews, as well as any F-15E,
Tornado or (insert premier league strike platform here)


Yawn......

Indeed, very much so.

My comments regarding the fact that the cost of keeping the F-111s
flying is equivalent to the cost of raising two regular infanry
battalions was meant as an illustration of the comparitive spending
power of the defence dollar. That's all. I was not advocating raising
those battalions at the expense of the RAAF. I can't see how anyone
would have arrived at a different conclusion.

Our updated F/A-18s with AWAC and tanker support would be a much
better match for SU-27s - should our neighbours ever actually take
possesion - than the F-111 which we did not even consider to be up to
an appropriate standard to deploy to the Gulf.

Here's a question - what's the point having a good strike aircraft if
the enemy has already knocked them out on the ground? The F-111
scarcely has a defence - its EW equipment is non-existant and its best
move is to run. Thus if an attack was launched against us the Hornets
would be the only defence of the F-111s on the ground. There would be
no point having the F-111s take-off to defend the airbase - their best
option would be to runaway to another base. We can't afford to have
combat aircraft that can't fight.

I'm not against the idea of leasing F-15s till the JSF comes on line -
I just wonder about the cost. It may be a good move.

F-15K will be able to carry Harpoon and SLAM.

Brash wrote:
"David Bromage" wrote in message
...

Brash wrote:
"David Bromage" wrote in message
...
What can our F-111s carry that an F-15E can't?

At a guess........... Harpoons.

Silly me, I should have known that. How hard would it be to clear the
F-15E for Harpoons?

Cheers
David


I don't know, to be honest. From what little I know of it, I don't think it
would be too hard. The wing hard-points can handle the weight, and I'm told
that because the weapon and the aircraft are both digital its only a matter
of writing the proper software. IIRC, F15s were cleared to launch the
Pegasus(?) anti-satellite missile, and it was a big mother too.

"Drewe Manton" wrote in message
. 4
David Bromage waxed lyrical
:

What can our F-111s carry that an F-15E can't?


Two that spring to mind immediately are AGM-84 Harpoon and Popeye.
Neither cleared for F-15E AFIK,

Israeli F-15Is are probably the prime carriers of Popeye, and ROKAF F-15Ks
are supposed to get Harpoon.

--
Tom Schoene Replace "invalid" with "net" to e-mail
"If brave men and women never died, there would be nothing
special about bravery." -- Andy Rooney (attributed)