JSF companies are too greedy: general

Australia plans to buy up to 100 of the combat jets for $16 billion. Picture: Chase Tom Reynolds Source: The Australian

THE US Air Force general charged with rescuing the troubled $600 billion Joint Strike Fighter program has blasted the plane's maker and engine provider for being too greedy.

Australia plans to buy up to 100 of the combat jets for $16 billion, but delays and technical concerns have the government and Defence deeply worried.

The government is set to announce soon that it will purchase another 24 Boeing Super Hornet fighters from the US Navy to plug a possible "capability gap" as early model Hornet fighters retire and delays in the JSF program increase.

Lieutenant General Chris Bogdan, the newly appointed head of the US F-35 Joint Strike Fighter office, said giant US aircraft companies Lockheed Martin (the builder) and Pratt and Whitney (engine maker) were behaving as if they were selling him the last aircraft and engine rather than the first of what could be between 3000 and 4000 of the advanced stealth fighters.

The plain-speaking general also accused Lockheed of not always acting in the best interests of taxpayers.

"In the past Lockheed Martin had some of the program's money in their coffers and I had some of that money in my coffers. In general when Lockheed Martin used the money from their coffers it was not necessarily with our government's approval and they got to choose where they used it," he said.

In Australia for high-level briefings and the Australian International Air show, General Bogdan stated bluntly that he was not a "cheerleader" for the JSF program.

He said he could understand why people had become cynical about the plane, but he insisted that the biggest developmental challenges, including excessive weight, were in the past and the program was back on track.

He said the program had met every milestone since 2011 and was stable now that the companies clearly understood who was in charge.

"Today there is no doubt in my mind that I am in charge of this program," he said.

"I control all the money on this program now."

He said in 2011 it was taking Lockheed 18 months to act on a fix when a fault was found.

"In 2012 we made Lockheed Martin responsible for half the costs and they have skin in the game. Suddenly things get better and 18 months is now down to 13 and heading below 12 months," he said.

The final cost is expected to be in between Lockheed's estimate of $67 million per jet and today's list price of $92 million.

If the price is $75 million then Australia will be able to afford about 75 of the fifth-generation fighters.

He said the plane's low observability combined with world's best radar and electronic attack system and the fusion of sensors meant it was "more survivable than any other aeroplane on earth."

Head of the JSF program at Lockheed Martin, Steve O'Bryan, stepped up the sales pitch during a recent visit Down Under saying Australia risked falling behind China and Russia if it stuck with current generation jets such as the Super Hornet.

"We have a history of building stealth airplanes. The decision for Australia is do you want to move to where the future is . . . or do you want to buy the last generation fighter off a specific assembly line?" he said.

"Do you want to look to the future or the past - that is every country's sovereign choice."

THE FUTURE OF AIR COMBAT

The F-35 Joint Strike Fighter will be the mainstay of air combat for Australia, the US, Britain, Israel and several other countries for the next 40 years.

It is designed to be a low cost coalition aircraft and is being developed by the US with several partner nations including Australia.

The jet's key features are its low radar signature, making it very difficult to detect electronically, and its high speed, powerful electronic warfare kit and internal weapons storage.

Current generation fighters are vulnerable to long-rage radar detection and missile lock-on.

Once fully operational the JSF will be able to "kill" enemy aircraft and systems from far greater range while remaining undetected.
 

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