[sukhoi-30mki]

Hobart, the first of three air warfare destroyers, seen here sailing out of ASC shipyard at Osborne for the first time. Picture: Royal Australian Navy

[Gay State Conservative]

Being an old Army guy I know literally nothing about Western navies (*any* navies for that matter) but it seems to me that countries like Australia can't be expected to always have cutting edge technology in their Armed Forces.Australia,for one thing,is a small country whose economy is,unless I'm mistaken,currently having noteworthy difficulties.

[Yo-Yo]

The Aussies jumped on the F-111 before the first production prototype flew. The Aussies committed to the F-35 before the first production prototype flew. The Aussies were the first non-US operator of the EA-18G Growler. The Aussies were the first to fly the A330-MRTT with boom refueling capability. The Aussies rode through the painful teething pains of the advanced Boeing 737-based Wedgetail AEW&C aircraft.

The Aussies are not afraid of buying cutting edge technology, so when one of their new weapons systems are not cutting edge, they tend to take notice.

[pepsi_junkie]

If you want the latest system, develop your own. If you buy from the US you will always be one iteration behind. That makes you second best in the world, which is great unless you think the US is going to attack you, then it’s something to be worried about. I think Australia is safe.

[InABunkerUnderSF]

Back in the 1980s I worked for a logistics firm that handled all shipments for the Australian Department of Defense and got a chance to see how ADOD handled multi-billion dollar purchases. What astounded me was how efficient the operation was. The guy at their embassy in DC who was in charge of procurement for every piece of equipment purchased in the US, from Perry class figates, P3s and F18a, to widgets and circuit boards for all 3 services was an army major. The guys based in Philadelphia who managed all dealings with the ship builders for the Perrys were a pair of navy chiefs. There were similar teams in Burbank, San Antonio and a couple of other places, all told about a dozen enlisted personnel in the field and a team of 6 civilians at the embassy.

I suspect a similar Pentagon operation would have been led by a two star backed up by a cast of thousands.