Australia eyes EA-18G

From Aviation Week

Australia Eyes E/A-18Gs, Confirms F/A-18Fs

Mar 17, 2008

Bradley Perrett

Australia will consider buying Boeing E/A-18G Growler electronic warfare aircraft following confirmation of its order for 24 of the standard two-seat version of the Super Hornet, the F/A-18F.

In a review of air combat requirements, the Labor government now endorses the Super Hornet as “an excellent aircraft capable of meeting any known threat in the region,” even though Defense Minister Joel Fitzgibbon has spent months criticizing the hasty process in which the former Liberal National administration decided to buy it last year.

Fitzgibbon has implied, but never specifically said, that the Super Hornet was a bad choice to fill the gap to be left by the 2010 retirement of Australia’s General Dynamics F-111 strike bombers.

It isn’t clear whether the E/A-18Gs would be bought in addition to the 24 F/A-18Fs on order or instead of some of them. Releasing the review, Fitzgibbon says: “The analysis also highlighted additional capabilities such as specialist electronic warfare variants (the F/A-18G) that will be considered as part of the Super Hornet acquisition.

“These additional capabilities will be more fully considered under the second stage of the Air Combat Capability Review” after the responsible panel reports to the government in late April, Fitzgibbon says. The reference to the “F/A-18G” is evidently a typo, since the Growler is designated E/A-18G.

The first-stage review also endorses the controversial retirement of the F-111s in two years, but only on the grounds that it is now too late to reverse the decision.

The service life of the F-111 has been one of the most debated issues in Australian defense policy for a decade or more. At one time the aircraft was intended to serve as late as 2020, and some of its supporters have called for an even longer operational life.

The F-111’s backers say that no replacement can offer so great a payload-radius. Its critics, noting that the U.S. Air Force retired its last F-111 in 1996, say Australia cannot afford to maintain the small fleet of old and very complicated aircraft.

There have been worries about safety, too, with some military officials pointing to the likelihood of cracks in the strong but brittle D6ac steel of the wing carry-through structure.

Fitzgibbon’s Labor government was elected in November. It has been particularly keen to criticize its predecessor’s equipment orders because former defense minister Brendan Nelson is now the opposition leader, and the man whose name it most wants to blacken.

The new minister still characterizes the Super Hornet decision as having been forced on the country because of the former government’s unwarranted trust in the timing of the U.S. F-35 Joint Strike Fighter project.

“The former government’s decision to leave Australia’s air defenses in the hands of the Joint Strike Fighter project was a flawed leap of faith in scheduling terms, and combined with the quick decision to retire the F-111 early, allowed an air combat capability gap to emerge,” Fitzgibbon says, adding that the Super Hornet was therefore unavoidable (but still “excellent”).

Cancelling the Super Hornet order would result in financial penalties, he adds. Also, the cost of buying the Super Hornet and operating it until 2020 will be lower than the A$6 billion (US$5.5 billion) previously budgeted. Savings of A$300 million have been found in departmental and industry support costs.

The second part of the air combat review will consider requirements as far out as 2045. Fitzgibbon has asked the United States to clear the Lockheed Martin F-22 for sale to Australia so that Canberra can consider it as an alternative to the F-35.

Defending the Super Hornet order last year, Nelson pointed to Aviation Week reports on the capabilities of its Raytheon APG-79 radar. Australian general media have paid little attention to the all-important electronic aspects of the design, however.