Apologies to Hasbeen /others for being mistaken about the F-111 being French. Please consider it the momentary recollections of an older person, but I'm not mistaken in referring to the current U.S Congress and it's concern over Strike Fighters. I'm not mistaken about Australia's past regional air superiority being considered a given by us, and I don't think it unreasonable to ask the question "why did we proceed with this purchase if military advice was to the contrary"?.

Your point SM was relevant to my post, but what if 30-40 yrs is as not relevant as before. What if other nations are taking delivery of aircraft now while yours are still on the drawing board so to speak. This may make 10 -15 yrs time frames more relevant.

And surely any Australian Govt couldn't accept aircraft from any country without an accompanying service and upgrades contracts. If we couldn't get these, then I guess we were stuck with SF's and that explains it.

The other part of my question was, what can we do now if the SF situation turns for the worse. And it sounds from the posts of others, that our submarines are also a problem.

Should I start worrying about our defence capability now? this is my underlying question

We do not spend our defence $ well but no one seems to care.We are the 13 th biggest spender on defence on the planet.Per head of pop we'd have to rival the USA.Where does it all go?

it was a way to keep the dollar low...howhard often orded currency swaps...and big orders to spend au dollars to keep a low parity..so those selling our minerals in us reap nice returns..on the gifts govt gave them for pennies the ton...and of course to buy a friend in the bush

much is gestures...like the earth hour..bull...you turning off yourt power for one hour...lol..when it takes over half an hour to shut down even one generator...those of us keeping our lights on just get more amps pumped into the power we do use...and the hotwater heaters get a boost as the power gets moved to off peak

everything is so much gestures..party policy..mates rates..bang/bang..got his nickname via shooting/murder of timorians and nosey/reporters ...we got gst because the elites didnt want to pay death duties...

the claim of smoking causing lung cancer is susatained by hiding asbestos deaths..besides any cancer goes to the smoking stats..but just pay income tax on ya wages ya muggins..drink the two party coolaid..while the elect serve the elite to their next cash cow...a forrestry land developer..getting 33,000 hectares for the value of trees on it..or 70 billion of coal seam gas..for pennies the ton..and a generouse party contribution...

its time we turned on some lights..not get pats on our backs for turing them off..the federation meant states surrenderd their ability to legislate new gifts and bad laws..but no one will tell you that

thinker 2, I think you are a bit mixed up about a few things. All combat aircraft “systems” are composites of airframe, logistics, avionics, system software, multi-nation defense integration, weapons versatility and many more. Any purchase decisions are inevitably future projections, horrendously complex any cannot be over simplified.

The F111 for example is a 40 year old design, a truly astonishingly capable airframe and equally capable “G” version avionics. To emphasize this point, the Northrop F117, the now well recognized “latest” (F22N excepted) stealth aircraft, first went into service in 1967.

The simulation to which you refer? Russian << strategic advantages such as stealth capability >>, Like which ? Long range Russian “strike fighters”? Nonsense. Carrier dependent refueling? Really?

Finally, the F111 has absolutely nothing to do with “air superiority”, it’s a bomber for goodness sake!

If you just want to take a swipe at a former PM that’s your business, but you need to pick on a topic you actually understand and stop suggesting that the ADF has ever considered buying Russian Military technology of any description.

I love military aircraft (fullstop). Loving these SUPER MEGA AWSM HORNETS flying over my joint at the moment ... and their little training fighters. Makes for GREAT photo ops. Will miss the F-111's though. Love watching them cruise by.

I don't care what flies past, I'll love it.

JUST LOWER THE RESTRICTIONS ON THE SUPER MEGA AWSM HORNETS PLEASE!!. My zoom isn't THAT good.

Houellebecq,

Have you tried getting microsoft to rewrite some of their base code?

I suspect that if you approached any aircraft manufacturer, given the safety testing etc required, none of them would be prepared to work on a system they considered optimised.

The point is that you stick with the standard proven software or modify non critical components to do the little extras you want. This applies to anyone, so I fail to see the relevance of your post.