F-111 What the future holds
CAF tells parliamentary committee

F-111 Capability
(MPEG video 4.55 MB)

By Leesha Furse

F-111 capability is working better now than it has since about 1996 but it would be an expensive investment to make the aircraft compatible with the move to a networked Air Force, a Parliamentary committee has heard.

CAF Air Marshal Angus Houston and other senior Air Force members presented a paper on F-111 capability and the Joint Strike Fighter to the Joint Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs, Defence and Trade on June 6.

AIRMSHL Houston said the F-111 capability was "going great guns at the moment".

“We currently have a very good strike capability built around the F-111.

We have had a lot of problems in recent times, but I am very pleased to say that, with the assistance of the DSTO, industry partners and obviously the elements within the Air Force that are part of the F-111 community, we have remediated the capability fully after three major challenges ... the fuel leaks, the fuel tank implosion and the wing breakage.”

Training Flight Commander SQNLDR Mark Neasmith inspecting a GBU-10 2000lb laser-guided bomb loaded on an F-111 during Exercise Northern Challenge at RAAF Base Townsville.

Photo by CPL Craig Sharp

No. 6 Squadron personnel in front of one of five F-111s that took part in Exercise Northern Challenge at RAAF Base Townsville from May 31-June 11.

Photo by CPL Craig Sharp

He praised the “wonderful work” done to fix the problems.

Air Vice-Marshal John Monaghan, Head of Aerospace Systems Division, noted that current investigations, with the help of Boeing, are using “quite advanced NDI techniques” to detect cracks in the centre wing of the F-111s.

“We are hopeful that by the end of this year the technical piece of work will be in place and we will be able to return some of the F-111 C-model wings to service,” AVM Monaghan said.

The potential to discover age-related design issues could only increase, leading to operational impacts similar to those already seen, he said.

Dr Graham Clark, of DSTO, said current testing of an F-model wing and other developments in DSTO could “push out” the wings, with good results, to 2010. But the “overriding picture” was one of repeated problems which would present “very serious logistical and availability issues” for the Air Force.

Already, the number of flying hours has reduced from an average 5680 hours a year from 1974-1979 to an average 3060 from 1999-2003.

AIRMSHL Houston said the problems encountered had changed the ADF’s view of the cost of operating the F-111s and therefore the timetables for their retirement.

“When I look at the amount of money that I have to plan with through to 10 years, keeping the F-111 going really distorts the force structure of Air Force, given that we must transition to a networked Air Force for the future.

“Making the F-111 compatible with the networked system can be done, but it will be an expensive investment,” he said.

The Government planned to spend about $50 billion on capital investment across the ADF and about $15 billion on air combat capability over 10 years.

CAF said the upgrades of the Hornets would provide an enhanced strike capability.

“We will have more lethality and a better survivability ... it is a strike capability that is better than the one the F-111 gives us now – and indeed it is one that will give us the capability we need through that period until the Joint Strike Fighter arrives.”

What was being created was a “much more capable” Air Force. Air Commodore John Harvey, Director- General New Air Combat Capability, told the committee the JSF would be a highly agile aircraft designed to combine the best features of the F16 and the F18.

“The JSF is a true fifth-generation multi-role stealth fighter, highly capable in both the strike and air control roles,” AIRCDRE Harvey said. “With its combination of advanced sensors, sophisticated data fusion, multiband communication systems and precision weapons capabilities, the JSF will be a key sensor and shooter in the networked Air Force.”

The committee heard that JSF analysis is continuing. RAAF pilots and DSTO scientists recently took part in simulated exercises in the US to develop operational concepts.

A paper about F22s and F35s that AIRMSHL Houston is preparing for release in August will also influence the decision on the F-111’s replacement aircraft. However, AIRMSHL Houston flagged he was “firmly convinced that the F35 is the way to go, because everything that I have learnt about the aircraft to date excites me”.

“I think it will give us the capability we need to do all the missions that will be required for the defence of Australia in the future,” he said.

 

.