You’re forgetting the 150 RAF Typhoon’s operating. The number 150 is easy to remember, because it’s about twice as large as the Australian active aircraft.
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Does the FAA operate those? I thought the FAA had given up fixed wing naval aviation when they ditched the Harrier.
Ah, yeah - Naval, missed that bit. Just thought it was the usual UK bash.
I mean when you get right down to it, the MoD is much better at bashing the UK than any of us could ever be.
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Well, just to make @fearlessfrog happy. 
I definitely can bash 'Strayas naval defence. If we think the size of uk, and the comparable size per square mile of military assets. Then you think the entirety of England can fit into one of Oz’s states about 16 times. Then yeah, Australia’s coastal defences are pretty poor. Especially in the times when our only naval carrier was decommissioned because it munched a warship or two.
I guess its a price thing. Australias population cant generate the same military budget (but i think @near_blind pointed out we have two butt ugly carriers now. Still, its a far cry to what is needed to cover, what could be, one of the largest coastlines of a country in the world.
I joke about the f111 a lot, but i am a firm believer that we still need aircraft like that. The size of Australia and our current defence force leaves a lot f our country undefended, especially with no long range capability. Hence our reliance on military allances.
As for bashing uk. Well my wife is a brit, and that alone means i have to rubbish her country to keep the relationship healthy.
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Well getting a few squads of panthers should do you guys right. It’s no -111 of course, but the things do have a sweet fuel fraction, ie long legs. Longer than the hornets’ at least
What the UK needs is for someone to declare war on 'em, bomb London to smithereens and then be valiantly and by the skin of their teeth overcome. For lack of that, they do it themselves and it’s an ugly sight from across the channel.
I’d always wondered why an F-15E variant wasn’t picked to replace the F-111. I wouldn’t think there’d be a lot of differences in cost between the two.
For a long time, eagles were very expensive. That period includes the time the 111s were phased out.
Compared to the gold plated Panthers eagles have become dirt cheap, especially since the middle east are gobbling them up. They might be quite a fine addition to the ozzie airforce. Lots of bang for your buck.
I think the commitment to the F/A-18F would probably keep an F-15E solution from becoming reality, especially since they’re relying on the F-35 for the future.
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A video explanation and animation of the July 10, 2017 USMC KC-130T crash in Mississippi.
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Jesus.
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That’s all awful. 
Politics aside - that is a nice send off…
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Yes it is, and he was the helmsman of the west during a very precarious, nay dangerous period of history where the wall fell, the Soviet Union dissolved. Without his cool and careful leadership a lot of things could have gone a lot worse. I think whatever your personal politics, that is something we can all recognize.
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To be fair, there’s a whole lot of nothing to invade in Australia, hate to be the invasion force that has to cut through the middle… Imagine the attrition rate and logistical nightmare…
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True
Imagine fighting the Emu insurgency on the west coast, surviving the out back, making it to the east coast only to be ripped to shreds in one of a series of Dropbear ambushes. And that doesn’t even consider the sugar adiled Roided Roo Calvary Sqaudron
The horror.
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And then when you finally think you get to kick some aussie ass you get bitten by one of those spiders that kills you in a painful way. Or you end up in the magpie season…
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Dont forget the Stingray problem during beach assaults and Roos getting caught up in your vehicle tracks once you get inland.
Might be the most defended country on Earth.
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Y’all are forgetting the Jellyfish Coastal Defense network off the east coast, which will incapacitate ANY fleet making an approach.
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