Posted on 09/14/2014 8:30:22 PM PDT by naturalman1975
Tony Abbott has decided to deploy a powerful, state-of-the-art Australian military force to the Middle East.
The troops will make a material difference.
This is not remotely tokenism, though of course it has powerful political significance.
In the Super Hornets, the special forces and the Wedgetail AEWAC combat control aircraft, Australia is sending ultra-high-end war-fighting capabilities.
In addition, there will be air-to-air refuellers, and Australian personnel in the joint coalition headquarters. The giant Australian C-17 Globemaster transport aircraft, and its smaller sibling, the C 130 Hercules, are already there too.
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That Abbott was able to make this deployment at all is a tribute to the decade of defence rebuilding that occurred under John Howard.
There was a time when no elements of the Australian Defence Force were combat-ready. Then there was a long time when only the special forces were kept near to combat readiness. There was a time when our fighter jets could not fly in the Middle East because they lacked electronic warfare capacity.
Those times are gone.
The Super Hornets are as good in their way as any fourth-generation fighter going round. They have formidable ground-attack capabilities.
The AEWACs embody the modern “system of systems” hi-tech approach to combat. They can integrate thousands of pieces of data and control targeting and deployment with astonishing precision. They give a combined operation real-time, three- dimensional understanding across an entire battle space.
The SAS are as good as any special forces in the world, feared and respected, depending which side of the battle you’re on.
(Excerpt) Read more at theaustralian.com.au ...
ping
While not everything Howard did was perfect he is still the greatest PM in my lifetime. I hope Abbott has time to grow into a great PM - I don’t like his chances but he may yet surprise!
bump
Coalition of the ready, willing and able I hope.
looks like there is some testosterone in Australia....
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