The time frame for retirement keeps changing as it appears to be a juggling act as to when its replacement (?) the F-35 (which really isnt a replacement in terms of capabilities) finally arrives. 100 airframes are the number which keep popping up, which means we will have but one fighter type doing everything.
In the meantime we arm our old slow Orions with stand-off missles??? lol….Sorry it took me ages to realise it was an april fools joke when i read it a few yrs ago….. or was it???
In answer to Rocky… an airframe can be kept flying for ever… but you then cant afford to keep throwing the money at it to keep it going. No real set date is given as to its retirement..though 2008 seems likely.
And yea Scooter for the RAAF to run with one airframe for its entire fleet (F-35) is pretty shortsighted… what if something is found wrong with it in the coming years and the fleet is grounded?
Even if a direct replacement for the 111 cant be found surely its wise to have 2 different types of aircraft.. even if the Super Hornet were for instance selected (good or bad) it would be better then having all ones eggs in one basket.
By the time the big wing FB-22 gets off the ground… if it ever does…. we will no doubt need to replace the F-35 fleet anyhow !
Though one must look back as to what “deal” was made when we first “ordered” the F-35. The F-35 was not even in the short list (nor had it been offered to the RAAF at the time) when suddenly the whole tender process was cancelled and the F-35 magically appeared as our replacement aircraft. Plus the $100Million non-refundable deposit…..
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