Agree with Mhaze and Shadow Minister.
Alan B.

I do get very sick of the communist propaganda continually pushed by this peanut.

AUSTRALIA CONSIDERING BUYING THE B-21 AT A$4 BILLION EACH

I'm not enthusiastic about Australia buying B-21s - something implied by our Gov. Due to the following:

- the average infrastructure and project cost for Australia, may be A$50 Billion for a squadron of 10 B-21s, with 2 B-21s for training. This is based on US$2.13 billion each for the preceding B-2 and that is in 1997 dollars http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Northrop_Grumman_B-2_Spirit This is more than A$4 Billion in 2022 dollars.

The cost of the B-2 is the best real word, non-advertising, data available.

Contrary to aircraft maker claims, new types of military jet aircraft are ALWAYS more expensive - especially if Australia needs to build B-21 infrastructure from scratch (eg. a new base would likely be in central Australia with hardened shelters, housing a highly skilled workforce).

Also very high maintenance costs per B-21 flight hour should be anticipated. For the preceding B-2 ita was 119 hours of maintenance per flight hour. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Northrop_Grumman_B-2_Spirit#Program_costs_and_procurement

- the delay getting them operational in the RAAF (just a few years before Australian SSNs might enter service). See this estimate in

"To B-21 or not to B-21: what are Australia’s best long-range strike options?"

of Dec 6, 2022 at http://www.aspistrategist.org.au/to-b-21-or-not-to-b-21-what-are-australias-best-long-range-strike-options/ :

"The timing for achieving a fully operational capability in a maritime strike role in the Royal Australian Air Force is hard to estimate given the B-21’s current status and the delays already experienced. The 2040s, or later, seems reasonable."

- to get full value B-21s are envisaged as dual-weapon capable ie. can also be nuclear armed. Is Australia willing to nuclear bomb Chinese fleets or the Chinese mainland?

and

- a RAAF B-21 squadron base in Australia could always be pre-emptively "taken out" by (even mere) conventionally warhead armed Chinese ballistic or hypersonic cruise missiles.

Maverick,

What drivel, The US would never sell the B21 to Aus and the gov has no intention of buying them.

I hope we don't actually plan on using them.
By the time we get 10 B-21s China will have 100 H-20s and superiority in space.
- Not to mention they'd probably have nuclear-armed submarines surrounding our coastline, and we don't even have nuclear weapons.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Xian_H-20

Australia is punching above it's weight.
We can't defend our 34,000 klms of coastline with anti-ballistic missiles.
A determined enemy will find weaknesses and all of our capital cities will be leveled like Hiroshima.

The phrase 'Don't bring a knife to a gunfight comes to mind'
So in summary, I think this is an excellent suicide plan.

shadowminister

Check out http://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-12-06/b21-nuclear-stealth-bomber-australian-military/101735190 of 6 December 2022:

"Defence Minister Richard Marles, who has previously suggested the B-21 is being examined by Australia in the Defence Strategic Review, has just arrived in the United States for talks with Secretary Austin.

RAAF figures believe the B-21 could provide an effective option for Australia to hold potential adversaries at bay over long distances but concede it would be well into the next decade before the aircraft could be acquired."