Fighter Jet Costs Are Set To Soar To $18bn
Sun Herald
Sunday April 16, 2006
THE most expensive government purchase ever - the planned acquisition of 100 Joint Strike Fighter (JSF) jets - faces another cost blow-out as the US Defence Department prepares to complete another review.
Already estimated to cost taxpayers $16 billion - up from $12 billion when the deal was announced in 2002 - the jets could end up costing more than $18 billion by the time of delivery.Australian Flight Test Services chief executive Peter Goon predicted another "significant cost blow-out"."The total cost of the JSF project has already increased significantly, with the US General Accounting Office revising the cost upwards this year from $US256 billion ($351.8 billion) to $US276 billion," Mr Goon said."Our estimates indicate that another very significant cost increase will be announced within the next three to five weeks."Andrew Sloan, a spokesman for JSF manufacturer Lockheed Martin, conceded that it was likely that further cost estimates would be announced."We currently estimate the planes will cost around $100 million each, but then you have servicing, maintenance, training and other costs on top of that which you can usually estimate to double to cost of the plane which then brings you up to around the $18 billion to $20 billion mark for Australia," Mr Sloan said.The JSF is intended to replace Australia's current fleet of 33 F-111 and 70 F/A-18 Hornets by 2012, but delivery is expected to be delayed until about 2015.The JSF was chosen because it will be able to fulfil a dual role now performed by both the F-111s and the F/A-18s.Mr Goon urged the Department of Defence to maintain the F-111 fleet, and instead purchase the more expensive F-22 Raptor, which is widely acknowledged as the world's most superior stealth fighter jet and is already in production.A spokesman for Defence Minister Dr Brendan Nelson said the "Government is still committed to negotiations to buy the JSF".
© 2006 Sun Herald