‘Useless’: a US general’s verdict on the Joint Strike Fighter

The controversial F-35 Joint Strike Fighter. Picture: Alex Coppel.

Two of America’s top-ranking generals have opened up to give the first official recognition of what it means when a country like the US loses global air and tactical superiority.

At this stage the generals are confining their remarks to the US defence publication “Defence One” but the reverberations mean that Australian Defence Minister Peter Dutton and his assistant Andrew Hastie will eventually have to share with Australians the horrible truth, especially as one of the generals used the word “useless” in describing our air defence front line – the Joint Strike Fighter/F-35.

It’s time for the entire Australian cabinet to understand the truth because it requires considerable changes in policy.

Of course, none of this is a surprise to readers of The Australian, where I and others have been unfolding horrible JSF truth for many years despite ridicule from defence circles.

General John E. Hyten is Vice Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and is America’s second highest-ranking military officer. Hyten told Defence One that the Joint Chiefs of Staff are rethinking the United States’ warfighting concepts after failing “miserably” in a war game that simulated a variety of scenarios.

An unnamed defence official told Defence One that one of the scenarios simulated a battle for Taiwan.

Hyten didn’t reveal much about the war games but he did state that the simulated US forces were swiftly and thoroughly dominated. “Without overstating the issue, it failed miserably,” he said.

“We always aggregate to fight, and aggregate to survive. But in today’s world, with hypersonic missiles, with significant long-range fires coming at us from all domains, if you’re aggregated and everybody knows where you are, you’re vulnerable,” Hyten said.

In an earlier interview describing the war games a second general, Air Force Lieutenant General Clint Hinote, stated: “We should never play this war game scenario (of a Chinese attack on Taiwan) again, because we know what is going to happen ... The definitive answer if the US military doesn’t change course is that we’re going to lose fast.”

Significantly Hinote added that the JSF/F-35 would essentially be “useless” in such a conflict, and that “every fighter that rolls off the line today is a fighter that we wouldn’t even bother putting into these scenarios”.

He didn’t talk about Australia’s defence but we now know that in those war games our JSF/F-35 was “useless”. I suspect General Hinote will be mercilessly bagged for telling the truth.

The generals find themselves up against the massive and powerful US defence equipment industry and the huge profits generated by the JSF/F-35. Australian defence officials will also bag the US “truth telling” because it shows their mistakes.

I urge Dutton and Hastie to stand up for the truth and not be sucked into the idea that there are a whole raft of improvements that can be made - fallacious argument used against myself and other “truth tellers” over the last decade or so.

Defence Minister Peter Dutton talks to a soldier during the Talisman Sabre military exercises.

The first step in finding a solution to a problem is recognising that the problem exists.

Accordingly we can now start looking for the solutions and making adjustments to strategies.

So let’s start with a simple list.

* Australia’s best air defence equipment analysts Air Power Australia have been bagged by defence chiefs for a decade but almost all the Air Power predictions have been right. It’s therefore totally reasonable that Messrs Dutton and Hastie examine Air Power’s recommended solutions using non-biased expertise outside Defence.

In essence Air Power say there is a magnificent supply chain and assembly system for the JSF/F-35 which can be converted to resume production of an enhanced F-22. The 100 or so F22s still in operation are superb aircraft that can compete with the top Chinese and Russian aircraft.

Sadly production was stopped to enable concentration on the ill-fated JSF/F-35. Because of the enormous profits that will be generated by a continuation of the JSF/F-35, restoration of a revamped F-22 will be machine gunned in the US. Australian defence officials will be urged to help.

Dutton and Hastie need to begin working on solutions to guide the US. It won’t be easy but many in the US Congress, (like the Australian parliament) know they have been hoodwinked.

The 100 or so F22s still in operation are superb aircraft. Picture: AFP

* We have to explain to the Taiwanese that with all the best will in the world at the moment we cannot defend Taiwan except perhaps by nuclear war.

Taiwan’s best strategy in these circumstances is not provoke China into taking action at this time.

* Partly because of the mess Australia has made in defence equipment (JSF, submarines frigates) understandably China does not take Australia seriously. For the moment set aside our China views and learn from history: when you have a weakened defence it is unwise to needlessly provoke. The foreign affairs department is constantly criticising the internal affairs of China. China has responded by criticising our internal affairs--- two can play that game. We don’t have to agree with China and we do need to recognise that we are dealing with a very different country, but mutual bagging on internal affairs makes no sense.

* We need to think very carefully about what’s in any free trade agreement with Taiwan.

Since World War II we have worked closely with America in almost all its military endeavours and felt secure in the umbrella of defence power of the US. The JSF and other US mistakes mean we can no longer feel as secure. Our job is to help the US restore its military ranking but in the meantime the last thing we want is to do provoke a conflict over internal affairs issues at this time of weakness. With our help the US, over time, will recover.