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The NTF Alternatives
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FOR FINANCIAL REASONS the RAAF has been obliged over a period of time to delay the ordering of a Mirage replacement for something in the region of ten years. The taxpayer may rub his hands with glee at the thought of all the money that has been saved by this process of continual deferment, and politicians may congratulate themselves on the risks that have been avoided and the exciting new options made possible by procrastination, but Australia is fast approaching the point at which a fighter decision is essential.
The RAAF’s position is now analogous to that of an ageing beauty making her choice between suitors. As each year passes, new possibilities occur to complicate her thought processes, while the magnitude of and urgency for a decision increases, and she becomes more and more afraid of making a choice that may turn out to be foolish. At the same time, her attraction is waning as generations of suitors spend vast amounts on satisfying her every demand, knowing that best – most of this money will have been wasted, and – at worst – she will delay her decision once again until a new band of hopefuls comes along.
We have now survived the generation of staff officers who wanted the Mirage F1, their successors who insisted that nothing but the F-15 Eagle would do, the eggheads who wanted a maritime strike aircraft such as the Panavia Tornado or Saab Viggen, the campaign for a fighter with a complementary ground attack aircraft such as the A-7 Corsair II or Jaguar, the recent shortlist of the F-16 Fighting Falcon and F-18A Hornet, the low-profile search for a maritime strike aircraft that would destroy the case for a Melbourne replacement, and the notion that both the F-16 and F-18 would be too expensive to squander in supporting the “Digs”, hence there must also be a low-cost ground attack aircraft such as the OV-10 Bronco.
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