Defence Update – RAAF Lead-In Fighter

Raaf Lead-In Fighter Contest Now Down To Three

The Shortlist Of Contenders For The $1 Billion Royal Australian Air Force’s Lead-In Fighter Project Has Come Down To Three; With The Italian Aermacchi Mb 339Fd, The British Aerospace Hawk 100, And The Mcdonnell Douglas T-45 Goshawk Now The Only Tenders In The Contest.

Initially there were six aircraft short listed in the project to replace the near 30 year old Macchi MB-326 jet trainer/day fighters, nearly 30 of which have had structural deficiencies addressed, mainly by re-winging them.

But some months ago the AMX consortium (made up of Italy’s Alenia and Aermacchi groups, and Embraer of Brazil) with its AMX-T, which is considered more of a real fighter than a trainer/lead-in fighter, dropped out of the competition. Then, after the Requests for Tender (RFT) were issued in mid year, the Minister for Defence, Senator Robert Ray decided that two other aircraft would be excluded for the bidding process which is still considered to be on track for a source selection decision and announcement about June 1996.

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