$17 billion F-35A ‘spaceship’ fighter jets arrive in Australia
A crowd of a thousand people have witnessed Australian aviation history with the first two ultra-expensive F-35A fighter jets conducting a flyover upon arrival at the Williamtown RAAF base.
The first two F-35A fighter jets have arrived in Australia, putting on a show for aviation enthusiasts near Newcastle.
A crowd of a thousand people gathered around Lake Macquarie as the new stealth planes conducted a 10 minute fly-by air show before touching down at the Williamtown RAAF base where they will be based.
Australia has committed to buying 72 of the ultra-expensive single-engine F-35A Joint Strike Fighters by 2023 with the program costing a total of $17 billion.
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They are labelled as the most advanced in the world and capable of reaching top speeds of 1975km/h — 1.6 times the speed of sound.
Paul O’Leary, a Qantas first officer who flies A330 jets internationally, had been eagerly awaiting today’s arrival since the federal government announced in 2009 that the F-35s would replace the ageing F-18 Hornets.
“It was very loud, very loud,” Mr O’Leary told The Daily Telegraph.
“When they flew over you couldn’t really have a conversation. There were a few people with ear muffs on and a few kids crying.
“There were a few car alarms going off when they went overhead,” he said.
“When they do high speed turns, the sound just hits you”.
Aside from the United States-operated F-22, the F-35 is the only class of fighter jet built for both combat and stealth with its shape designed to evade radar. The combination gives the plane a “space age” feel according to Mr O’Leary.
The Qantas pilot drove three hours and stayed overnight at a hotel to witness a piece of Australian aviation history for the second time in his life. As a young boy in 1985, Mr O’Leary witnessed the unveiling of the F-18 jets in Sydney.
“My big brother took me to the Schofields air show, the F-18’s first air show.
“To come up and see the arrival of the plane that replaces it was pretty special.”
The delivery has been 16 years in the making under the US-led Joint Strike Fighter program aiming to develop a global fleet of 1000 advanced jets.
The exact cost of maintaining the aircraft won’t be known until the end of 2020. By that time, Australia is expected to have an operational fleet of 12, and another 18 fighters on the ground.
Williamtown and RAAF Base Tindal in the Northern Territory will eventually host four squadrons with a fifth an option should the order increase to 100 jets. Lockheed Martin, builders of the jets, say the cost is expected to be driven down to $80 million per plane by 2020.
Former prime minister Malcolm Turnbull backed the spending when questioned in 2017.
“When we send our young men and women out to war, they have the tools to do the job to destroy their enemies and the terrorists,” he said.
Royal Australian Air Force chief Air Mashal Leo Davies told the Australian Strategic Policy Institute that the F-35 strike fighter is an invaluable addition to Australia’s defence force.
“They’ll think we’d be a tough nut to crack’, says Davies. ‘That to me is the first part of having a defence force — deterrence.”
Marshal Davies said reports from his pilots about the F-35 state ‘there’s just no comparison’ with other combat aircraft: particularly in relation to the way its integrates information from its own and external sensors.
He said it is like being able drive at night — as though you were driving in the day. “It’s that stark in their estimation: Night becomes day so you can drive normally. But to try to drive without night-vision equipment or headlights would be impossible.”
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