F35 no help in war with China
Australian Government paranoia about China culminated this week in jingoistic comments by a senior bureaurcrat that the “the drums of war were beating.” The Government needs to take a deep breath and pull in its head (or heads). Military adventures in recent years have shown that Australia’s armed forces are incapable of taking on serious combat roles. The Government thought it could partially overcome this by overspending on the F35 joint strike fighter. But the plane has not lived up to the hype of US arms salesmen. There are he a ps of unanswered questions about its combat effectiveness and suitability. Weapons testing reports show that the fighter is an incompletely designed and vulnerable aircraft that may never be capable of meeting its intended functions. Some of the problems are: its guns are inaccurate and damage the aircraft when fired. Its vital systems are vulnerable to cyber threats. T he aircraft fall s short of airframe durability standards which m...