Work continues on a possible deal to supply fighter jets to Ukraine, as the opposition attacks the Albanese government for not providing modern vehicles.
US aerospace company RAVN, which owns the rights to dispose of the planes on behalf of the RAAF, has identified 14 out of 41 planes that are in the best condition that could be sold to the Ukrainians for the first phase of a “revitalisation and training” program., concludes they are well short of the 6000-hour limit of Estimated Life Expectancy for each airframe.
“As these aircraft approach their Estimated Life Expectancy, a periodic inspection will be conducted, resulting in an additional 8400 flight hours across all 14 aircraft,” the report said.“By combining the current available flight hours with the hours available after the first periodic inspection, these 14 F/A-18s will have approximately 12,000 flight hours at their disposal at which time another round of periodic inspections can be completed.
The Hornets were assembled in Melbourne between 1984 and 1990. They were retired from service in 2021. Defence Minister Richard Marles would not be drawn on the prospect of transferring F/A-18s, saying on Monday: “I’m not going to go down the track of looking at specific capabilities in the future. We will keep our negotiations with Ukraine between ourselves.”Mr Marles and Prime Minister Anthony Albanese defended the failure to include Bushmaster and Hawkei vehicles in the latest package.
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