Defence Update

Doctor’s orders – RAAF to take its Super Hornet medicine

The proposed deal to acquire a squadron or two of Super Hornets to cover a growing capability gap between the early retirement of the F-111s and the arrival of the F-35 JSF poses as many questions as it answers.

In 1970 the RAAF leased 24 F-4E Phantoms from the USAF, due to delivery delays of more than five years with the then-new F-111s. The radical swing-wing jet was suffering from a high early attrition rate in US service due in part to various design and manufacturing faults.