First Posted: 01/29/2012 11:07 pm Updated: 01/30/2012 7:47 am
CANBERRA, Australia (AP) — Australia is reviewing its timetable for buying 12 of the troubled F-35 Joint Strike Fighters between 2015 and 2017 after the Unites States announced a rethink of its own purchase schedule for the futuristic warplanes.
Australia is a funding partner in developing the JSF, which the U.S. Defense Department describes as the largest fighter aircraft program in history.
Australian Defense Minister Stephen Smith said Monday that Australia is only contractually obligated to take delivery of two of the warplanes. They will be based in the United States and be available from 2014 for training Australian pilots.
Smith says Australia is reconsidering its schedule of buying another 12 during the following three years.
F-35 Lightning: The Joint Strike Fighter Program, 2012
Dec 06, 2012 20:27 EST
Latest updates: EVM penalty; ALIS problems; Affordability culture; Deal for Lot 6?; Advance acquisition for Lot 6; 1st F-35 Squadron.
F-35B: off probation
The $382 billion F-35 Joint Strike fighter program may well be the largest single global defense program in history. This major multinational program .. http://www.jsf.mil/program/ .. is intended to produce an “affordably stealthy” multi-role fighter that will have 3 variants: the F-35A conventional version for the US Air Force et. al.; the F-35B Short Take-Off, Vertical Landing for the US Marines, British Royal Navy, et. al.; and the F-35C conventional carrier-launched version for the US Navy. The aircraft is named after Lockheed’s famous WW2 P-38 Lightning .. http://www.aviation-history.com/lockheed/p38.html , and the Mach 2, stacked-engine English Electric (now BAE) .. http://www.thunder-and-lightnings.co.uk/lightning/index.html .. Lightning .. http://www.vectorsite.net/aveeltg.html .. jet. Lightning II system development partners included The USA & Britain (Tier 1), Italy and the Netherlands (Tier 2), and Australia, Canada, Denmark, Norway and Turkey (Tier 3), with Singapore and Israel as “Security Cooperation Partners,” and Japan as the 1st export customer.
The big question for Lockheed Martin is whether, and when, these partner countries will begin placing purchase orders. This updated article has expanded to feature more detail regarding the F-35 program, including contracts, sub-contracts, and notable events and reports.
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