Amid all the hullabaloo surrounding the F-35 Lightning II aircraft in recent times, Australia, a close US ally, has asserted that it has no misgivings about purchasing the US-origin aircraft. The statement is intriguing, given that Canberra preferred the B-21 Raider over the F-35 until a few years ago.
Air Vice-Marshal Nicholas Hogan, the head of capability for the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF), said on March 27 that the service had no doubts over the reliability of Lockheed Martin’s F-35 stealth jet, as per media reports. He was speaking at the ongoing Avalon Air Show near Melbourne.
The Vice Marshal also dismissed the concerns countries like Canada and Portugal have expressed regarding the aircraft purchase. “I’m very comfortable, we understand all of the aspects of the F-35,” Hogan said. Further, he asserted rather emphatically that “There is no kill switch,” referring to rumors that the US controls a suspected software that could be used to remotely disable an F-35 flown by a foreign air force.
Hogan’s statement in support of the F-35 comes days after the Pentagon and Lockheed, the manufacturer of the American fifth-generation aircraft, clarified that the aircraft did not have a kill switch.
Additionally, defense officials of other F-35 users, such as Switzerland and Belgium, have issued statements against the kill switch to quell concerns.
However, it is noteworthy that the concerns expressed by countries like Canada, Portugal, and, more recently, Denmark go beyond the mere rumor of a fictional kill switch.
For one, there is growing concern that in the event of a disagreement or a political fallout, the Trump administration could weaponize the control it enjoys over the aircraft by blocking access to spare parts and software upgrades that are required to keep the aircraft flying and combat-ready, as previously explained in detail by the EurAsian Times.
Trump’s coercion of Ukraine, which involved halting military aid to get the embattled country to end the war, has triggered anxiety and insecurity among US allies. Canada is evaluating other alternatives beyond the first tranche of aircraft that it has already paid for, whereas Portugal has reneged on its previous decision to buy the aircraft altogether. Both countries have indicated that they are looking towards Europe for an alternative.
However, Australia appears to be unfazed by these concerns.
For one, the alliance between Australia and the US has grown stronger amid the rising threat from China in the Indo-Pacific. With Beijing making strides in the southern Pacific, Canberra has made several big-ticket purchases of US weapons, including HIMARS and Tomahawk cruise missiles.
On the other hand, the US has increased investment in defense, storage, and fuel facilities in Australia in the last couple of years and expanded its military presence in the southern Pacific country.
The country initially ordered 72 F-35A fighter jets, the last of which was delivered in December 2024. Last year, the Australian government scrapped plans to buy an additional 28 fighter jets.
However, opposition Coalition frontbencher James Paterson recently promised that if his party wins the election, the decision will be reversed. An extra 28 F-35As will bring the RAAF’s stealth fighter fleet to a solid 100. Moreover, Lockheed says that should the Australian government make a positive decision, it will deliver the aircraft by 2029.
Having said that, Australia’s optimism regarding the F-35 is intriguing when we consider that the country was not even interested in buying additional F-35s in the first place and wanted the B-21 Raider instead.
Australians Initially Wanted The B-21 Raider
Until a few years ago, Australian defense experts and officials favored acquiring the B-21 Raider to boost its long-range strike capabilities and counter China. The defense analysts from the country’s premier think tank, the Australian Strategic Policy Institute (ASPI), continued to make a case for the stealth bomber aircraft for a long time.
Marcus Hellyer and Andrew Nicholls, experts on cost and capabilities in defense acquisitions at ASPI, said in their 2022 report that the B-21 Raider could carry out missions that were fully outside the ambit of the F-35A.
The primary arguments favoring a B-21 purchase centered on the aircraft’s superior range and payload capacity. It was earlier speculated that a single B-21 would be able to carry ordnance equivalent to at least six F-35As and have a range several times more than the F-35A as it is a long-range bomber.
Military analysts have noted over the years that the F-35 would not be able to match the range of the B-21 even with aerial refueling.
At this stage, EurAsian Times refrains from making speculations about the B-21’s specifications and from comparing it to the F-35 Lightning II due to the paucity of information from official sources. However, we understand that the B-21 is a sixth-generation aircraft incorporating technology that the F-35A is not expected to possess.
The first time the Australian government openly showed interest in buying the aircraft was in 2022 when Australian Defense Minister Richard Marles said the next-generation stealth bomber was “being examined” for a potential purchase.
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Later, in 2023, the B-21 made it to the Australian Defense Strategic Review, the most crucial defense policy document, based on which the country allocates its defense budget. The document read: “The Review has undertaken detailed discussions in Australia and the United States about the B-21 Raider as a potential capability option for Australia.”
However, the Australian government ultimately chose not to purchase the B-21s and decided to acquire long-range strike weapons for its existing fleet of F/A-18F Super Hornet warplanes and additional fifth-generation F-35A stealth fighter airplanes.
“In light of our strategic circumstances and the approach to Defense strategy and capability development outlined in this Review, we do not consider the B-21 a suitable option for consideration for the acquisition,” the report said.
Though the government never spelled out the reasons for rejecting the B-21, analysts predicted it was likely due to a prohibitive price tag, and Canberra had decided it was less bang for a buck.
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This would make sense since the Australian government has already been criticized for signing off on exorbitantly priced deals like the AUKUS submarine deal and the purchase of the F-35.
Experts, journalists, civil society members, and netizens have openly condemned the Australian government’s decision to spend valuable taxpayer money on expensive defense platforms. Earlier, for instance, a senior Australian journalist, Brian Toohey, fiercely criticized the government’s ‘Defense Strategy Review,’ which had recommended buying the fourth squadron of F-35 fighter jets.
Additionally, some reports suggested at the time that the B-21 would come with a highly stringent set of export controls, putting it out of the reach of even the closest US allies, like Australia, as previously noted by the EurAsian Times.
Although unverified, the above argument would hold water when viewed alongside Donald Trump’s latest statement regarding the sale of the futuristic F-47 sixth-generation fighter. “We like to tone them down about 10 percent, which probably makes sense because someday, maybe they’re not our allies,” Trump said while speaking about the potential export of the F-47.
When Australia announced in 2023 that it had decided against purchasing the bomber, its manufacturer, Northrop Grumman, said such a move may still be “on the table.”
The B-21 was publicly unveiled in December 2022 and has already entered low-rate production. The US plans to produce at least 100 of these next-generation stealth bombers for the USAF.
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