RAAF Boeing Super Hornet and Growler deal takes spend to $1.2 billion

article-body

Aviation giant Boeing has hit renewed PR turbulence after one of its 737 Max passenger planes lost a fuselage panel mid-flight, but it’s all systems go for its fleet of Royal Australian Air Force F/A-18F Super Hornet fighters and EA-18G Growler jammers, with key upgrades now officially cleared.

Having recently been immortalised in the latest incarnation of the Top Gun military aviation recruitment feature film, Boeing has scored a five-year extension to sustain and upgrade Super Hornets and Growlers out to 2030 in a new $600 million deal revealed by defence industry minister Pat Conroy.

The new deal is essentially a rollover of the previous Air Combat and Electronic Attack Sustainment contract deal initially inked with Boeing in 2016. It pushes the total contract value to $1.2 billion.

Based at RAAF Amberley in Queensland, 24 Super Hornets are now on their final upgrade specification (final operational capability) with No. 1 Squadron and 12 Growlers are with No. 6 Squadron. The Growlers came online in April 2019.

The latest deal will take Australia’s Growlers to final operational capability, Defence said, adding that the contract extension will ‘resecure’ the Boeing military jet workforce in Queensland.

“The Albanese government knows the most valuable Defence asset we have is our people,” said Conroy. “That’s why we’re investing in over 350 highly skilled local jobs and delivering on our commitment to ensure Australia has a robust defence industry.

“In a time of escalating global tensions, maintaining top-tier aircraft and a highly skilled local workforce is paramount. This contract extension fortifies our preparedness for any potential challenges.”

There’s also a decent benefit for the United States in having a fully certified shed and workshop for F-18 variants. It will potentially allow the US to maintain super carrier-based aircraft operating in the Pacific and Indian oceans, with systems interoperability a core focus of recent military exercises.

Australia already has a full overhaul garage licence for Sikorsky military helicopters, enabling US-operated birds to be worked on and recertified here without being sent back to home. Like the F-18 airframes, Sikorsky’s Blackhawk and Seahawk choppers are a mainstay of the US Navy air fleet.

At a regional level, it makes US-designed military airframes and platforms more affordable and appealing because there will be regional service and support available when the US upgrades its own hardware and passes refurbished aircraft and systems down the supply chain.

While the sale of US military equipment is ultra-tightly controlled, it’s still a big business and industry in its own right. Nations such as Poland are phasing out Soviet fighter aircraft and building up stocks of Lockheed Martin (nee General Dynamics) F-16 Fighting Falcons as part of its post-communist strategic realignment.

European F-16 operators, including Denmark and the Netherlands, have also pledged to provide Ukraine with the aircraft – a donation that appears to have been delayed by about six months.