F-35 la aterizare

Ca masura de reducere a costurilor, australienii vor amana cu doi ani o comanda pentru 12 F-35A Lightning II. Comanda va fi amanata pentru perioada 2014-2015 (initial era programata pentru finalul acestui an), in speranta de a economisi 1.6 miliarde de dolari australieni (1.64 miliarde $), o masura asemanatoare cu cea a americanilor care au anuntat la inceputul anului ca vor intarzia achizitia a 150 exemplare de F35.

Deocamdata, australienii au comanda ferma pentru 2 exemplare F-35A care vor fi livrate in Statele Unite si mentinute acolo pentru antrenamentul pilotilor si tehnicienilor. Achizitia a inca 12 exemplare in cadrul Fazei 2A a programului Project Air 6000, a fost amanata doi ani, iar faza finala, Faza 2B, ar presupune achizitia a inca 58 de F-35A.

“When we embarked upon the project we did a couple of very sensible things; firstly we chose the conventional Joint Strike Fighter, and secondly we put a fair amount of padding in our cost and in our timetable.On the timetable we have been making sure that we don’t end up with a capability gap. We’ll make that decision formally by the end of this year in terms of the capability gap, but my current advice is that the life of our 71 F-18 Classic Hornets and our 24 Super  Hornets is sufficient for our air combat capability, but we’ll make an advised judgement before the end of this year,” a declarat ministrul apararii, Stephen Smith.

Sursa:
Flight