Peter Dutton’s F-35s ‘would be welcome’, RAAF commander says

One of the air force’s most senior commanders has approved of Peter Dutton’s pledge to buy another squadron of F-35 joint strike fighters, while dismissing rumours of a US ‘kill switch’.

An F-35 joint strike fighter in action at the 2025 Avalon International Air Show. Picture: David Caird

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One of the air force’s most senior commanders has welcomed Peter Dutton’s pledge to buy another squadron of F-35 joint strike fighters as he dismissed rumours of a US “kill switch” allowing the jets to be remotely disabled.

Speaking at the Avalon Airshow, the RAAF’s head of capability, Air Vice-Marshal Nicholas Hogan, also left open the prospect that the nation could acquire a competitor to the Australian-­developed MQ-28A Ghost Bat drone, and confirmed Defence had not ordered the autonomous platform be armed.

As Anthony Albanese prepares to pull the trigger on a khaki-tinged election campaign, Air Marshal Hogan said the RAAF could make good use of an extra 28 F-35s as promised by the Opposition Leader.

“Look, more F-35s would be welcome, but we will go with the decisions of the government of the day,” he said.

Mr Dutton has said the ­Coalition would allocate an initial $3bn to purchase the jets if he won the election, and seek delivery of the first of the aircraft within five years.

The government has rubbished the plan, saying the Lockheed-Martin jets would cost well over $3bn and there was no sense in buying more of the aircraft to have them “sitting on the ground”.

Head of air force capability, Air Vice-Marshal Nicholas Hogan. Picture: Defence

European and Canadian concerns over the US’s reliability as an ally during Donald Trump’s presidency have fuelled speculation in recent weeks that the US was able to shut off the fifth-generation fighters with the flick of a switch.

Air Marshal Hogan said Australia had full control over its 72-strong F-35 fleet. “I’m very comfortable we understand all of the aspects of the F-35. There is no kill switch,” he said.

The Pentagon has also repudiated the rumours as Canada and Portugal reconsider planned F-35 orders.

Air Marshal Hogan said the Ghost Bat was a “world-leading” capability and the RAAF would provide advice to the government within 12 months on whether it should continue to invest in the platform.

He said he was confident the RAAF would operate a Ghost Bat-style aircraft within a decade, declaring the Boeing Australia-developed aircraft would be a “strong contender” for continued support.

As the US backs two rival aircraft through its Collaborative Combat Aircraft program, he said it was possible Australia could switch to another platform.

“We’ve sunk a significant amount of developmental dollars into (Ghost Bat), and what we have learned in terms of the way it works autonomously and teams with crewed platforms is exceptional,” Air Marshal Hogan said.

“And even if we were to look at another platform or other platforms … I think the underlying foundation of what we learned from this platform will stay with us for decades.”

His comments come after The Australian reported growing concerns over the future of the Ghost Bat program as the US funds similar capabilities being developed by Anduril and General Atomics.

Boeing this week said it wanted to fire a weapon from a Ghost Bat prototype sometime this year, but Air Marshal Hogan said this was not a capability being sought by Defence under its contract with Boeing.

An MQ-28A Ghost Bat pictured during flight testing at Woomera, South Australia. Picture: Defence

He said it was likely the company had made the pledge in a bid to boost its competitiveness in other markets.

“That was a Boeing discussion. We’re still looking at different payloads and sensor packages and developmental packages that you can put on the aircraft,” he said.

“Weapons testing as such is not part of that project but certainly sensor integration and understanding how it integrates into our force is.”

The Australian previously reported the government had shelved plans for the Ghost Bat to be armed but the company maintained it would be equipped with weapons in the future.

Boeing Australia received $400m from the Albanese government in February 2024 to deliver three new Ghost Bat prototypes by the end of this year, after $600m in earlier funding.

Boeing says the autonomous “loyal wingman” drone, designed to fly with manned fighter jets, is the most advanced aircraft of its kind in the world but it faces stiff competition in the Western arms marketplace from Anduril’s YFQ-44 Fury and General ­Atomics’ YFQ-42, selected last year for the US’s CCA program.

A full-sized model of the An­duril drone is on display at the ­Avalon Airshow’s arms fair this week, along with the Ghost Bat and an array of other autonomous systems.