As the United States continues its strategic shift to the Asia-Pacific, important regional allies continue their shift toward the U.S. We reported last month on Japanese purchases of U.S. Warplanes...now, as we hear from Neal Conan in the Pacific News Minute, Australia has confirmed an upgrade to its latest American weapons deal.
The Royal Austrian Air Force's version of Boeing's EA 18 Growler will feature capabilities not available on its American counterparts. Announcing the latest details of a 2.4-billion dollar deal in Washington last week, U.S. And Australian officials confirmed that the RAAF Growlers will benefit from lessons learned in the planes first U.S. combat missions over Libya as part of Operation Odyssey Dawn. The Australian version of the electronic warfare plane will carry an advanced forward looking, infra-red targeting pod and the AIM 9x air to air missile.
The Growler's purchase by Australia represents the latest shift away from British and other European manufacturers. It comes along with 12 standard versions of the plane- the F/A 18 F Super Hornet. Boeings new P-8a Maritime reconnaissance plane, Northrup-Grumman'sMQ-4C Triton Maritime drone, Boeing's E7AWedgetail Airborne Radar plane and, the big ticket item - Lockheed Martin's F35a Joint Strike Fighter. They're all part of what Australia calls "Plan Jericho" a networked aerial warfare scheme designed to integrate with U.S. battle nets. RAAF Air Marshall Geoff Brown told USNI news "We try to be seamlessly interoperable with the U.S. Navy and U.S. Air Force." And while no one would say so aloud, the only conceivable threat to require such sophisticated and expensive weaponry, is China.
