According to the Eurasian Times in India, Australia was quoted as saying that purchasing the F-35 fighter was the "bigest mistake" made by Australia. This US-made jet was a "complete disaster" and Australia should ask for a refund and return. It is reported that the Australian military spent US$16.6 billion to order 72 F-35A fighter equipped with three squadrons, and some people suggested that the Australian Air Force purchase a fourth squadron to bring the total number of F-35 to 96, but Tuxi opposed buying more.
Tuxi pointed out that one of the reasons why the Australian Air Force purchased the F-35A was a long enough combat range. Although the F-35A's combat range was 1,093 kilometers on the surface, this did not take into account the fact that it was necessary to accelerate in combat, which consumed more fuel, so its actual combat range might be only about 500 kilometers, which prevented it from reaching the predetermined battlefield. Even in peacetime, it can fly a full 1093 km, which means it must return to the base before reaching the Queensland border after taking off from Williamtown base near Newcastle, and it cannot even complete the full patrol mission. Although, you can refuel with a tanker. However, in a fierce war, the refueling opportunity was detected by the radar , which exposed the location of the F-35.
Although the F-35 is called the supersonic fighter , it cannot quickly reach the battlefield when needed, because it can only fly for 50 seconds at a maximum speed of 1960 km/h (Mach 1.6) and then it has to slow down. In this regard, it is not as good as the " Gripen " of Swedish , the " Gust " of France and the F-15EX of the United States, and it is not as good as the Chinese J-20. Perhaps because of this, the United States is buying more F-15EXs instead of the originally planned number of F-35s.
Tuxi said that although the F-35 claims to be a stealth fighter, its stealth ability is not as boasted by the Americans. There are still some radars that can detect it, such as m wave radar of different frequencies, and can even track it at distances beyond the visual range. Crucially, the F-35 can be seen through optical and thermal sensors, or detected by the noise it makes. If the F-35 plugs in a fuel tank to expand its range, its stealth will disappear.
In addition, Tuxi said that the most unbearable thing is the expensive operating cost of of F-35. The US Department of Defense calculated that the operating and maintenance costs of the US F-35 fleet throughout its service cycle are as high as $1.723 trillion, of which $1.266 trillion is used for operation and maintenance, and the remaining is the cost of purchasing aircraft. On this basis, the Australian Air Force F-35's service cycle cost is about $475 million per aircraft, and although this cost is lower than that of the US, it is still three times that of the Australian Air Force F-18 fighter jets.
Tuxi said that these serviced F-35s have another crucial flaw. According to budget documents submitted by the Australian Department of Defense (DoD), the F-35's annual flight time will be reduced due to maintenance issues over the next four years, meaning its ability to perform missions is getting lower and lower. The F-35's autonomous logistics information system is very bad, and its data cannot even be backed up, which directly leads to the F-35's annual maintenance delay, reduced flight time, and significantly reduced attendance. If it is time for war, it will put Australia in danger.
Indian media said that if the above Australian Air Force can still tolerate it, the next question will be unacceptable. The digital operating system used by the F-35 received by the Australian Air Force is the Block 3F version. According to the US Air Force Deputy Chief of Staff Sinoth, the current version of the F-35 cannot compete with China and Russia. This is also one of the reasons why the US Air Force reduced the number of F-35s purchased by in the 2023 fiscal year. They want to wait until the version is updated and upgraded before purchasing in large quantities.
斯全0日本全全全全全全全全全全全全全全全全全全全全全全全全全全全全全全全全全全全全全全全全全全全全全全全全全全全全全全全全全全全全全全全全全全全全全全全全全全全全全全全全全全全全全全全全全全全全全全全全全全全全全全全全全全全全全全全全全全全全全全全全全全全全全全全全全全全全全全全全全全全全全全全全全全全全全全全全全全全全全全全全全全 He even proposed to design a cheaper non-stealth fighter to replace the aging F-16 fleet in service rather than replace it with the F-35. F-16 is a non-stealth, light tactical fighter used for land and base defense, and can also be used to support counter-terrorism missions. It should be replaced by the F-35 as planned, but given the current situation, the US Air Force even wants to further reduce the number of F-35A purchases.
The US military originally planned to use F-22 or the sixth-generation air superiority fighter NGAD to seize air supremacy, while the joint attack fighter F-35 is the "main force" aircraft to attack targets at close range, and the F-15EX fighter mainly performs defense tasks, but can also carry long-range missiles and hypersonic weapon to strike targets at longer distances. However, now the number of Chinese J-20s is soaring, while the number of F-22s is getting smaller and smaller. At the same time, the sixth-generation fighter will not be put into service until 2030, so the number of air superiority fighters used by the US military to seize air supremacy is seriously insufficient. The current F-35 cannot fill this number gap unless it is upgraded from Block 3F version to Block 4 version. Block 4 is not just an upgrade on the operating system, but also has greatly improved various capabilities including electronic warfare capabilities, target recognition capabilities, bomb load and other capabilities.
Of course, these capabilities increase means more energy is needed, so the Block 4 version will be equipped with a more advanced adaptive engine, which increases thrust and range by more than 10%, and increases heat capacity by more than 50%, allowing it to handle more advanced systems while also requiring a stronger cooling system. In addition, its instantaneous acceleration has also been greatly improved, its maneuverability has been enhanced, and its air combat capabilities have been improved. However, due to a series of problems, the upgrade to the Block 4 version has been postponed to 2027, and the F-35 produced during this period may not be able to fight against China's J-20.
For Australia, the F-35 they ordered will be delivered within this period of time, which also means that their F-35 cannot compete with China. Moreover, Australia cannot wait until the Block 4 version appears before receiving it, because the money they paid is only enough to buy the Block 3F version, and while the Block 4 version has greatly improved its performance, the cost has also increased. So Australia is now in a very embarrassing situation.
