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US commander defends Joint Strike Fighter F-35A
Sunday, 21 Feb 2016 16:59:56 | James Dunlevie
Two Joint Strike Fighter F-35A aircraft pictured in flight. (Supplied: Defence)
The American head of the global Joint Strike Fighter (JSF) program supplying new combat aircraft to Australia has been spruiking the jets' capabilities in Darwin ahead of a Senate inquiry into the Federal Government's acquisition of the jets.
Australia is spending around $17 billion on buying 72 US-made aircraft, with the first expected to arrive in Australia in 2018 and enter service in 2020, replacing the Hornet fleet.
Lieutenant General Christopher Bogdan is set to appear before a Senate inquiry into the Federal Government's acquisition of the F-35A jets in Canberra on Thursday.
He spent Sunday talking about the jets' capabilities.
"One thing you ought to know — and I am pre-empting my speech in front of the Senate — I am not an F-35 salesman," he said.
"There is no match in the world [for the F-35s] and there won't be for 10 or 20 years.
"Here's what an F-35 can do for you: long before two aeroplanes get close enough to see each other the F-35 is going to see that other aeroplane and kill it."
Bogdan dismisses concerns F-35As not suited to hot climates
The JSFs are set to be based at RAAF bases at Williamtown, New South Wales and Tindal, around 330 kilometres south of Darwin, with Tindal to be "used for exercises from two to four weeks per year by visiting squadrons", the Department of Defence said.
Darwin's airport, which functions as both a civilian and military airport, will be used as a JSF "Forward Operating Base", to "support occasional and short-term proposed flying operations" of the JSF aircraft.
General Bogdan's visit comes amid criticism of the jets, including that the aircraft are not suited to hot climates.
In a submission to the Senate inquiry, defence analyst David Archibald said F-35s would have trouble operating out of northern Australia.
"The F-35 uses its fuel for cooling its electronics," he wrote.
"The aircraft won't start if its fuel is too warm, making deployment in northern Australia problematic."
But General Bogdan said the issue with fuel was no different to legacy fighters.
"There are limits on any engine including the F-35 as to how hot the fuel can be before you put it in the plane," he said.
He also moved to quell concerns about the aircraft's noise, saying the jet was no louder than existing fighters, except in some take-offs.
"When you use afterburner in the F-35 it is slightly louder than the legacy aeroplanes by a decibel or two," he said.
The F-35A model is a Conventional Take Off and Landing [CTOL] variant to the F-35B Short Take Off/Vertical Landing [STOVL] and F-35C aircraft carrier models.
The JSF aircraft boasts "low observation stealth, advanced sensors, networking and data fusion capabilities, helmet-mounted sight" and "laser-guided bombs" in its arsenal.
On its website, the RAAF says the JSF is:
"Characterised by a low-profile design; internal weapons and fuel carriage; advanced radar; electro-optical and infrared sensors with advanced voice and data link communications; and the ability to employ a wide range of air-to-surface and air-to-air weapons."
General Bogdan acknowledged there were some problems with the program.
"I can tell you software on the program is a big risk, our maintenance information system called ALIS — that's an acronym for Autonomic Logistics Information System — is troublesome," he said.
"It's behind schedule and it's got problems that cause the maintainers to do a lot of things they don't want to do."
General Bogdan said the program was also behind on weapons testing and that the date for the start of operational testing had been pushed back, but the cost of each aircraft — currently estimated at $US90 million — was getting cheaper.
"We see a very aggressive cost reduction in terms of buying the aeroplane such that by 2019 when Australia or any partner goes to by an A-model they will be paying somewhere between $US80 million and $US85 million a copy," he said.
In 2015, the ABC reported the Department of Environment approved flying operations for the F-35A, which stipulated four conditions, amid concerns from Darwin residents about noise levels on takeoff.
This month, Jane's Information Group, an international database specialising in military and aerospace topics, reported the JSF Joint Program Office (JPO) had acknowledged deficiencies in the JSF were "well known" and had come as "no surprise to the JPO, the US services, international partners, and our industry team".
The 2015 report by the US Government's Operational Test and Evaluation Office had identified issues, including "problems with the aircraft's ejection seat; lengthy maintenance durations due to heat management concerns, particularly with regard to the weapons bays; vibrational and acoustic stresses affecting the weapons bays; mechanical rubbing of the gun; manoeuvrability issues discovered during air combat trials … speed restrictions on the use of the internal weapons bays and countermeasures for the F-35A; and structural cracking among others", Jane's reported.
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