(RECAP) Has the government purchased a dud? | 60 Minutes Australia

You can forget health, forget welfare, wait till you hear how they're spending your money now. Fifteen billion dollars of it. All for a new war plane. A top secret project called the Joint Strike Fighter, our biggest defence purchase ever. Liam Bartlett just had a sneak preview of this wonder jet in Texas, and he says it sure looks impressive. But then Liam took a look at the fine print. For some strange reason, our defence chiefs have gone into the deal without seriously considering any other plane. The JSF has only flown seven times. And it might turn out to be a dud, the wrong aircraft to defend Australia. No wonder there's an almighty dogfight in the air.



The clip is from a few years ago now. The past Minister's advice should be made available. It looks like Australia, and other countries, were politically arm twisted into buying the F-35. At the time of airing the Australians could have bought the F-22, which could have also carried air to ground ordinance, and now does. The F-35, on the other hand, made more money for Lockheed Martin.  

[Posted at the SpookyWeather2 blog, January 6, 2023.]