F-35 price to break $100m

sandy

Active member
TAXPAYERS will suffer a 12 per cent rise in the price of new RAAF fighter jets, which may now cost more than $100 million apiece.
The Government, the Bush Administration and the builder of the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter -- Lockheed Martin -- have consistently said the Australian aircraft would cost $66 million each. But Washington's influential General Accounting Office says that the average cost per aircraft has now risen from $98 million to $113 million.
The US bean-counters do not even acknowledge the $66 million price tag.
"Purchase quantities have been reduced, total program costs have increased and delivery of the initial aircraft has been delayed," the GAO report says.
The Howard Government wants to spend up to $16 billion for 100 of the so-called next-generation stealth fighters to replace RAAF F-111s and F/A-18s.
Based on air force, navy, US Marines and British orders for 2458 planes, the auditors put the average cost blowout at 12 per cent, raising purchase costs to $113 million each or almost twice the Australian figure.
Labor has promised to review the nation's air defence strategy, including the JSF buy, and says the Government should push the US for access to the much more capable F-22 Raptor jet bomber.
Australia is not due to sign the JSF contract until next year, and by then Labor could be in power.
Opposition defence spokesman Joel Fitzgibbon, accusing the Government of incompetence, said: "Air superiority is the key to our defence and is more important than any political game." Defence Minister Brendan Nelson has made it clear the Government will have to be very confident about Lockheed Martin's costing and delivery schedule before it signs next year.
Australia joined the JSF program in 2002 as one of eight international partners and has contributed about $400 million to its development.
over $100m・・hm it's little expensive than I thought.
That may be natural result.
At first,one bird that can complete all missions was nonsense demand from politicians.
 
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