Plans for new fighter jets on back burner despite Labor’s $50bn boost to defence spending

ADF personnel prepare an F-35A Lightning II for a training exercise in the Northern Territory in May 2021. Plans to expand the RAAF’s fleet of the fighter jet have been shelved.ADF personnel prepare an F-35A Lightning II for a training exercise in the Northern Territory in May 2021. Plans to expand the RAAF’s fleet of the fighter jet have been shelved.

But the defence industry minister, Pat Conroy, said the government had decided to keep the existing Super Hornets in service for longer because “they are doing great work” and the F-35 was “even more capable than we initially thought”. The government is also freeing up $4.1bn by not proceeding with the acquisition of two large navy support vessels and $1.4bn by shelving planned upgrades to defence facilities in Canberra.

He stressed the need for Australia to seek to project military power further from its shores “to contribute to regional security” and to “resist the coercion that would come from the disruption of our sea lines of communication”.

Marles said while program includes extra funding, it “also required the reprioritisation of $22.5bn over the next four years and $72.8bn over the decade”.

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