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redundant capability
Thanks for clarifying gf

I wasn't aware RAAF had this capability and for quite some time too it seems. I was originally asking the question relating to the true AP-3C's and their capability, until Magoo mentioned the 'peacemates'.

Interesting aircraft, if they're similar to USN models
 

Magoo

Defense Professional
Verified Defense Pro
Not quite redundant - although the two systems are from the same stable, the Peacemates have some optional extras which the Wedgetail doesn't carry, plus the ESM in the Wedgetail isn't quite sorted yet. Wedgetail's system is aimed at a higher end audience.

The C-130H kit was only ever a roll-on roll-off plug-and-play kit, and I don't think it progressed beyond the trial stage.

The AP-3Cs aren't anywhere near as capable as their USN EP-3E cousins, but they are ideally suited for the lower to middle end work they have been doing in recent years.
 

gf0012-aust

Grumpy Old Man
Staff member
Verified Defense Pro
Not quite redundant - although the two systems are from the same stable, the Peacemates have some optional extras which the Wedgetail doesn't
depending on which squadron you're from, I'd argue (and so would the P8 eval staff - argue that there's a whole lot more capability and flexibility than the E7's (despite being visibly spooky in mission set) :)

all gets down to some specific jobs. spook or theatre
 

John Newman

The Bunker Group
Does anyone have any up-to-date info on what's happening with the seven CH-47Fs Army is buying?

I was expecting to have seen some news on rollouts/deliveries by now, but DMO and Boeing are being very quiet...
Magoo, about 5 weeks ago you were asking about the new CH-47F's, I came across this article yesterday, it was dated last week, 30 August 2014:

Procurement: Chopper For Oz


The relevant paragraphs are:

...... for the seven CH-47F transport helicopters that were ordered in 2010. That order became subject to cancellation as Australian troops were withdrawn from Afghanistan and military budgets were threatened with cuts.
And:


At first the plan was to get Australia their first two by 2012 with the rest arriving by 2015. But then the Australian government decided that the CH-47Fs might not be needed after all. That controversy went on until recently and now the first CH-47Fs are to arrive in 2016, with the new support facility completed and ready to handle them.

That's the first I've ever seen a report that the order of the seven new F's was facing the possibility of being cancelled by the Government.

I would assume that when the article is talking about the 'Government', it may have been the previous Gillard Government?

Be interesting to know if this is true or not.
 

the road runner

Active Member
The 7.30 Report on ABC is doing a story tonight on JSF.
If its the right aircraft for the RAAF blah blah blah....
If anyone is interested it should be a good laugh
 

Oberon

Member
The 7.30 Report on ABC is doing a story tonight on JSF.
If its the right aircraft for the RAAF blah blah blah....
If anyone is interested it should be a good laugh
A bit one-sided with Peter Goon and David Jensen again putting their views. Nothing from the supporters of the JSF. I also wish that they would stop bringing up the possibility of an F-22 purchase. That was effectively killed off years ago.
 

Trackmaster

Member
A bit one-sided with Peter Goon and David Jensen again putting their views. Nothing from the supporters of the JSF. I also wish that they would stop bringing up the possibility of an F-22 purchase. That was effectively killed off years ago.
Very sloppy work from the ABC.
Peter Goon was there in front of a museum F-111...he climbed to stairs to look lovingly into the cockpit.
Russian and Chinese "stealth" fighters were talked about as if they were freely available...roll up, roll up..where's your cheque book. The vision illustrating the Chinese aircraft was a piece of animation
The final piece to camera was done at Fighter World at Williamstown, in front of the Mirage ( I expected a plug from Mr Goon, saying he could re-engine it...stealth coat it and install new avionics).
The reporter went on about the F-22, saying they were an option. Pity they are no longer in production.
Viewers were presented with the F-22 option...the F-15...the Gripen or Rafale. The opinions of Goon and David Jensen were given far more weight than the Defence Minister..LM and the RAAF.
Sad really....if that's the best "our" ABC can do.
 
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meatshield

Active Member
Very sloppy work from the ABC.
Peter Goon was there in front of a museum F-111...he climbed to stairs to look lovingly into the cockpit.
Russian and Chinese "stealth" fighters were talked about as if they were freely available...roll up, roll up..where's your cheque book. The vision illustrating the Chinese aircraft was a piece of animation
The final piece to camera was done at Fighter World at Williamstown, in front of the Mirage ( I expected a plug from Mr Goon, saying he could re-engine it...stealth coat it and install new avionics).
The reporter went on about the F-22, saying they were an option. Pity they are no longer in production.
Viewers were presented with the F-22 option...the F-15...the Gripen or Rafael. The opinions of Goon and David Jensen were given far more weight than the Defence Minister..LM and the RAAF.
Sad really....if that's the best "our" ABC can do.
I developed Tourette's about half way through it!!
 

jack412

Active Member
It's a wonder they didn't bring Sweetman into the mix, I don't know about the Rafale, but I quite like the idea of a 6th gen Gripen fighter. It's a different concept to what they say is wrong with the F-35, speed, agility, stealth. It is a "feature" of the Gripen....who knew?

Is Saab
However, what should qualify the JAS 39E for a Gen 6 tag is what suits it most for a post-Cold War environment. It is not the world's fastest, most agile or stealthiest fighter. That is not a bug, it is a feature. The requirements were deliberately constrained because the JAS 39E is intended to cost less to develop, build and operate than the JAS 39C, despite doing almost everything better. As one engineer says: “The Swedish air force could not afford to do this the traditional way”—and neither can many others.
 
Not quite redundant - although the two systems are from the same stable, the Peacemates have some optional extras which the Wedgetail doesn't carry, plus the ESM in the Wedgetail isn't quite sorted yet. Wedgetail's system is aimed at a higher end audience.

The C-130H kit was only ever a roll-on roll-off plug-and-play kit, and I don't think it progressed beyond the trial stage.

The AP-3Cs aren't anywhere near as capable as their USN EP-3E cousins, but they are ideally suited for the lower to middle end work they have been doing in recent years.
depending on which squadron you're from, I'd argue (and so would the P8 eval staff - argue that there's a whole lot more capability and flexibility than the E7's (despite being visibly spooky in mission set) :)

all gets down to some specific jobs. spook or theatre
Thank you too you both. Explains much, when thinking of their (EP-3C or mod. AP-3C) recent deployments in the gulf. In my naivety, I thought it was solely related to the Somali pirate problems in the IO and Gulf of Aden.
 

ASSAIL

The Bunker Group
Verified Defense Pro
If anyone is interested in the video on the 7.30 report here is the link

Have Australians been manipulated over the purchase of new fighter jets? - 04/09/2014

Be warned its the usual beat up by the anti JSF crowd
It was re-broadcast on ABC News channel today. Mr Goon has many friends at the ABC and they take great delight in finding stories that shine bad (in their opinion) light on the present govt.
Do they even apply any research before posting such ullage? I'm over them but unfortunately I continue watching their news and current affairs.
But....I did see the umbilical cord attached from Goon to the F-111 in the background
 

Magoo

Defense Professional
Verified Defense Pro
It was re-broadcast on ABC News channel today. Mr Goon has many friends at the ABC and they take great delight in finding stories that shine bad (in their opinion) light on the present govt.
Do they even apply any research before posting such ullage? I'm over them but unfortunately I continue watching their news and current affairs.
It's nothing to do with shining a bad light on the current Govt, it's about a general lack of understanding of defence purchases and how they work right across the mainstream media, not just the ABC.

It's because most media organisations have laid off or sacked their specialist reporters in favour of those able to cover multiple domains in recent years, and so they have little choice but to believe many of the so-called self-proclaimed experts who offer up this tripe. You have people like Goon and ELP etc standing on the street corners screaming gibberish, and there is no one to shut them down.

Goon touts himself as the "former head RAAF FTE" which is just not true, while Jensen claims he is a "former defence scientist", but fails to mention in what field (it was ATC). Plus, who in the media has done any research on Goon's background and realised he has a financial interest in the F-22 meme?

I blame Defence for not realising this is happening and for not being prepared to offer up their own experts to counter this crap, not just about the jet but also about the clown club's claimed fields of expertise.

Unfortunately from my own experience, any willingness to do so is often stifled at the ministerial level, but when people see a minister offering a counter-point, they question his/her motives for doing so. It would be far more effective to have an O5, O6 or a one-star with air combat experience who can articulate these things.
 

gf0012-aust

Grumpy Old Man
Staff member
Verified Defense Pro
I blame Defence for not realising this is happening and for not being prepared to offer up their own experts to counter this crap, not just about the jet but also about the clown club's claimed fields of expertise.

Unfortunately from my own experience, any willingness to do so is often stifled at the ministerial level, but when people see a minister offering a counter-point, they question his/her motives for doing so. It would be far more effective to have an O5, O6 or a one-star with air combat experience who can articulate these things.
I'd qualify this somewhat. eg there has been a view that most in the media know that these blokes are damaged goods and that what they don't want to do is to give them oxygen and an ongoing platform

indeed, the advice given to me was disengage completely and let them dribble on.
there are probably half a dozen of these muppets who rinse wash spin and dry the same rubbish that has easily been countered.

I've got a strong view that these morons should be defrocked and countered so as to hilight the frailty of their mantra, but thats not what they want to do as whatever they say (the sky falling in club) will come to nought anyway.

Its just a damn shame that they couldn't expose some of these idiots to some of the more relevant data and show how ignorant they really are.

they're akin to your local car salesman telling someone only interested in chevs why the camaro is so much better than an M5 BMW or AMG Merc for ANDRA rather than CAMs roundy racing
 
Its just a damn shame that they couldn't expose some of these idiots to some of the more relevant data and show how ignorant they really are.
Goon and co. became all that more irrelevant after the first Aus airframe rolled off the assembly line. The F-35 is on the way and no amount of dead equine flogging is going to change that. Bring it on and let the aircraft speak for itself.
 

StingrayOZ

Super Moderator
Staff member
Goon and co. became all that more irrelevant after the first Aus airframe rolled off the assembly line. The F-35 is on the way and no amount of dead equine flogging is going to change that. Bring it on and let the aircraft speak for itself.
Yeh, I don't get it. We have the F-35 air frame now, we are committed up to our eye balls. The F-22 isn't even in production and the US is in no position to give us(or anyone else) air frames and given a variety of issues its not the aircraft for us. There is no real alternative for what we want anyway. The F-111 is literally cut up, dead, and buried in a tip or as glued shut static museum pieces. These guys have no oxygen, they have no fuel.

Surely there are newer issues. F-35B's, UAV's, weapons, etc.
 

t68

Well-Known Member
Yeh, I don't get it. We have the F-35 air frame now, we are committed up to our eye balls. The F-22 isn't even in production and the US is in no position to give us(or anyone else) air frames and given a variety of issues its not the aircraft for us. There is no real alternative for what we want anyway. The F-111 is literally cut up, dead, and buried in a tip or as glued shut static museum pieces. These guys have no oxygen, they have no fuel..
There’s quite a few remaining in the boneyard maybe that’s what they got their eye on


Surely there are newer issues. F-35B's, UAV's, weapons, etc.

that's now the $64.000 question, which way to jump
 
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