Cancel the Joint Strike Fighter

Britain may cancel its order for the F35 joint strike fighter and it is hoped that Australia follows suit. This single action would free up at least $25 billion and help to solve the Govenment's fiscal problems. Calls for cancelling orders for the stealth fighter being built by Lockheed Martin are not just based on excessive costs. The new plane's performance does not meet expectations. An analysis in the authoritative US Air force Air and Space Power Journal says: “Even if funding were unlimited, reasons might still exist for terminating the F-35. “Specifically, its performance has not met initial requirements, its payload is low, its range is short, and espionage may have compromised the aircraft long in advance of its introduction.” Advances in Russian and Chinese radar defences mean it is not clear that the stealth technology will still work, the analysis warns, adding: “The F-35 might well be the first modern fighter to have substantially less performance than its predecessors.” Australia has initially ordered 72 F35s but may eventually take 100.

Canada has already cancelled its orders for the discredited plane.