Without wanting to derail the LHD thread, I came across an interesting tidbit of information regarding the B1 Lancer. Without aerial refueling, the combat radius of F/A-18E/Fs and F-35As would be limited to 390 miles and 584miles, and only having 5x KC-30A in the fleet our ability to conduct long range strike is severely limited.
As part of the paper from CSBA called gateway to the indo-pacific Australian defence strategy and the future of the Australian-US Alliance it suggests that According to U.S. Air Force sources, the "ownership cost per flying hour" for the B-1 is $62,000, including all operations and sustainment costs as well as fuel. The main cost driver is maintenance. A typical seven-hour training sortie roughly costs $430,000. Assuming a B-1 flies at least once weekly, the annual sustainment cost would be $22.5M. A twelve-aircraft squadron for a year would then cost $270M, which is roughly one percent of Australia’s defense budget.
If the above statement is true or not I can only guess it would be interesting to see the difference in operating costs from the F111 for the same amount of aircraft and which would give the ADF a better overall result to the defence budget to capability gained.
Gateway to the Indo-Pacific: Australian Defense Strategy and the Future of the Australia-U.S. Alliance | CSBA
nfloorl:
