Shouldn't Australia just buy the contract for the F111 and build them here?

Question

Instead of replacing the ageing pigs with superhornets and JSF's, Australia should just buy the rights to build the pigs here. Why buy new designs for big bucks when the F111 still has excellent long range strike capabilites. I know people will argue 'there old' but seriously- built new in Aus they would not have any of the problems they have now. Especially as the US congress will even consider selling us there F-22's, which is in the works at the moment.

Answer 1

You seriously expect me to believe that Oz tradesmen could produce a viable product?   "I think you over-estimate their chances", is the appropriate quote.  We can't make a decent car at a fair price that works, how can you expect something so much more complicated to be successful?  I can't get tradesmen to do a quality job-they're hopeless.

Answer 2

hshs

Answer 3

No doubt F-111s are getting old, but the F-22 and F-35s have a lot of technical advantages over the F-111, hence in my opinion, Aussies should go for the latest F-22s/F-35s.

About US not selling is untrue, USA is preparing to bid for 126 fighters to be bought by Indian Air Force with its F-16/F-18 and F-22. So i think they'll definately sell, but at the moment F-22s cost more than 250 million USD a piece !!!

regards

Answer 4

F111 is way too old and long range doesn't meant is good. Modern fighter plane has better offensive as well as defensive capabilities such as electronic countermeasure

Answer 5

Good question......sounds like a good idea to me.  We could remodel them, update them with new technology and weapons.  They are truly a proven performer.  Age shall not weary them.

Answer 6

they are not only OLD, they are outdated. Remeber it is the airframe dating back to the Vietnam war. whatever its actual manufacture date, it still carries its design flaws. More than that the F22 /JSF are completely different class of aircraft.

Answer 7

h**l Yeah !!  

As we are one of only a few to still fly th e" Pigs"    , lets  build them here .

Based mostly at  RAAF  Amberely , why not make it the Home , form  their birth to when they die.

We Fly them ,  we use them ( re beat the world in  Photo Recon) , so why not.

Plus the  JSF and the  Super Hornet  have more Budget problems than  beers drunk  at Birdsville.

Lets do it !!

Answer 8

Military technology is constantly changing. The F111 isn't just old, it is obsolete. It is loud, easy to detect by radar and is not multi-role capable. And the cost for building new F111s would probably be much more than you think. You'd have to start completely from scratch again. You'd either have to built engines to a very old design, or design new ones,  or redesign the plane to fit existing engines. The electronics would all need to be updated, requiring some redesign of the aircraft. And there is no way to make an F111 into a combat effective fighter. It's a dedicated bomber.

New built is still obolete, kind of pointless to spend all that money to buy a plane that is out of date.

Answer 9

Well, there is no "Contract" for the 'vark, because the aircraft is no longer built, or supported here. Also, all the tooling and jigs have long since been destroyed so you'd have to "tool up".  From a tactical standpoint, you'd be better off building F15E's (better range, loadout, better offensive/defensive avionics) they have an existing engineering and spares pipeline.  There's the multirole advantage as well:  one can combine AIM120s with the fire control system to give the RAAF a complementary lookdown/shootdown capability with the Hornets; something you just aren't going to get with a 'vark.  You also wouldn't need to start from scratch:  rebuilding some F15B's in storage would be MUCH cheaper in the long run to re-engineering F111's.

Answer 10

Australia was the only country other than the U.S. to operate the F-111.  When they were first delivered they sat for months because of problems.  These were ironed out and the type began to be appreciated for it's unique capabilities. The Aardvark as it's nicknamed by the U.S. military has since given excellent service.  Building them again after all these years could prove to be prohibitively expensive and the state of the art has advanced much since the 60s especially in the area of stealth and avionics.  The F111 is actually better suited to the Australian Air Force than that of the U.S.  The range is particularly suited to Australia's air defense.  The B1-B heavy bomber and the F117 have taken over it's roll.

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