Something that stands out for me is the massive quantities of fuel required to conduct "business" at distance.
For our northern Australian air bases, how many have the required infrastructure and fuel reserves to provide the type of support for the range of long range operations we are currently discussing.
I'm not sure our three bare bone bases truly have this capability without some additional capital investment.
If proximity equals availability in a particular geography, then foreign bases have merit.
But again we have the challenge of them being up to the task in infrastructure to conduct operations and also the added challenge of RAAF access.
The political domain is fraught with uncertainty and this will affect availability.
At the end of the day Air power is a hungry animal.
To be glass half full, just as we have challenges in projecting Air power because of our large geography, there is some comfort that this also is a reciprocal challenge to any adversary.
Sometimes being on a big Island surrounded by many miles of ocean has it's advantages and sometimes we also need to remember the past.
Darwin in 1942............................Land and Sea based Air power!
Regards S
I agree, long ranging capabilities for the RAAF, with 'fighter' sized aircraft, does have the challenges you've spelt out.
If we go from today and back to World War II, the RAAF had maintained and operated
two main types of combat aircraft, shorter ranging aircraft such as F/A-18A/B, Mirage IIIs, Sabre, Meteor, Mustang, Spitfire, Kittyhawk, etc.
Longer ranging strike or bomber aircraft such as F-111C, Canberra, Lincoln, Liberator (which had a shorter service life than it probably deserved). In the UK as part of Bomber Command, Lancaster, Wellington, Halifax, etc.
In the past there were options for
both steams/types of aircraft, but today there isn't.
Had the USAF been able (or wanted?) to procure a more 'direct' replacement for the F-111, something with a 2000+km combat radius, then it may well have been something that the RAAF/Australian Government was interested in, but it didn't happen.
As it stands today you have F-35, F-15, F-16, F/A-18, plus Euro, etc at one end of the spectrum and way way down at the other end is the aging B-52, B-1, B-2 and just around the corner is B-21, there is nothing in the 'middle'.
So it is a bit of a 'Catch 22' for the RAAF/Oz Government, no more medium/mid range strike aircraft, only short range with required tankers, longer ranging precision weapons, etc.
But what if? .......
Now for most of you that know me, I've been around here on DT for eight and a half years (with 1600 posts), I usually don't go off into la la land, I usually stick to a more conservative what is reasonable approach within budgets, etc.
But maybe it's time for the Oz Government to think 'big', especially in regard to our friends(?) to the North (yes, China).
With China's reach growing and extending further and further each year, maybe it is time to review how big our stick actually is, maybe we need a longer stick, a stick with a sting (after all China is developing their long range bomber, the H-20).
Maybe a dozen RAAF B-21 armed with long range weapons such as JASSM-ER and LRASM is not such a silly idea.
Anyway, it's either stick with F-35 type aircraft (and provide them with AAR and long range weapons), or go the
whole hog (with respect to the Pig) and seriously look at B-21.
Far fetched? Maybe, but who knows......
Cheers,
(PS, Darwin to Shanghai is 4,957km as a matter of interest too.)
