Cabinet papers 1992-93: Caught out by Indonesian ire at bomber deal

The Keating cabinet was caught by surprise by Indonesia’s anger at the purchase of more F-111 strike bombers in 1992.

The Keating cabinet was caught by surprise by Indonesia’s angry reaction to the purchase of more F-111 strike bombers in 1992.

It also wrongly thought the purchase of the 15 extra F-111s would extend the life of the plane by a decade to 2020, but in fact the fleet was retired as a result of ageing in 2010.

The 1992 archives show the Keating government and then defence minister Robert Ray were keen to buy 15 F-111s to supplement the RAAF’s F-111 fleet at a bargain price because the US air force was taking some of its F-111s out of service.

But the cabinet documents indicate that not enough attention was paid to the lingering sensitivities of Indonesia about the F-111, which had been ordered initially by then prime minister Robert Menzies in the early 1960s because it had the range to bomb Jakarta.

In the cabinet submission, the Department of Foreign Affairs said it had advised Australia’s neighbours of the proposed purchase and there had been “no adverse reaction from them”. This led Ray to state in the submission that regional countries had “not expressed any concern”.

But the day the deal was announced, Indonesia’s then ambassador, Sabam Siagian, criticised it publicly, saying the purchase would raise doubts about Australia’s stated commitment to close military ties.

Despite this, Australia proceeded with the purchase, describing the fighters as a bargain means of extending the life of the RAAF’s strike force.

“Long-range strike is an important element of our force structure because of the great distances involved in our area of direct military interest,” a May 1992 confidential cabinet submission states. “It allows us to threaten or attack key military capabilities of an opponent while outside operational range from Australia, giving us an important operational advantage in a conflict.”

Cabinet said the purchase of the 15 F-111s for only $144 million would extend the life of the F-111 fleet from 2010 to 2020.

But the fleet had become fatigued by the 2000s and the last F-111 was retired in 2010.

This required Australia to buy Boeing Super Hornet fighters as a stop-gap measure until the arrival of the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter, the first of which arrives in 2018.