Sea King crash.

[crisis]

Sea King crash a brutal end to forces' lucky run
By Mark Forbes
April 4, 2005
The luck of the Australian Defence Force finally ran out on Saturday night. Having maintained its highest operational tempo since Vietnam over the past three years with just two fatalities, one helicopter crash on Nias Island claimed nine lives.

Training and professionalism contributed to the low casualty count on the danger-strewn battlefields of Afghanistan and streets of Baghdad, but military leaders concede that fortune has played its part. Politically, this has aided the Howard Government's aggressive international military activism.

That the deaths occurred on a widely supported humanitarian mission will mitigate any political damage, but the tragedy will reignite questions about the load on the defence force and its ageing equipment.

There is shock through the ranks at the scale of the accident - that so many could perish in fine conditions on a standard approach to a clear soccer field.

A catastrophic mechanical failure is the likely culprit, with pilot error possible but less probable. The degree of destruction and impact from a helicopter just 20 metres above a landing site left many shaking their heads.

One of the pilots was not even born when this particular aircraft entered service. It shows how long military aircraft are now expected to serve in some countries.
Just some of our aircraft:
F111: Entered service 1973, estimated will remain in service until 2020.
F18: Entered service 1985 (they are 20 years old).
C130H: Entered service 1978.
DHC 4 Caribou: 35 years old.
Not many people have cars this old.
Granted they undergo extensive maintainence and upgrades but the airframes are still old (32 years in the case of some F111s)

[SlickHolden]

Very out dates some of the aircraft we have still in the air,
And if john dickless Howard wan't to keep up at the front line of everything just to suck up dubyas arse then we need new equipment.

And it gets worse we have subs that are the quitest in the world. Catch they don't run electric problems.
And the F-111 has some of the most updates shit in it. But it's old as you said and it's slow big and not in combat shape it would go down in a rush in a dog fight or be shot down.

But in one way or another it's been a bad month or so for the Aussie troops. To the injured hope they get better soon and to the one's that lost there lives best to them on the other side they will get to kickbox john soon. And best to there family's:( http://www.australianflag.org.au/images/body/graphics/flagpole.jpg

[crisis]

Very out dates some of the aircraft we have still in the air,
And if john dickless Howard wan't to keep up at the front line of everything just to suck up dubyas arse then we need new equipment.

And it gets worse we have subs that are the quitest in the world. Catch they don't run electric problems.
And the F-111 has some of the most updates shit in it. But it's old as you said and it's slow big and not in combat shape it would go down in a rush in a dog fight or be shot down.
Actually the F111 is still the best show in town as far as long range tactical bombers go short of F15E which are no spring chickens either. The problem cruise missiles are now the weapon of choice and you dont need Mach2 capable aircraft to carry them. Thats why 50 year old B52s can manage that job.

[SlickHolden]

Oh yeah it's very high tech but very old. It's about time the gov spent some money on this.

[clutch-monkey]

are we still buying those f35 things that aren't even being produced yet

[Blue Supra]

it would take big BILLIONS to upgrade the whole airforce, i thought the deal was to replace bith the Hornets and F111s with the JSF?

my cousin works on NAVY choppers. Sea Hawks though.

[fpv_gtho]

You cant win when it comes to the military - you either get criticized for overspending and neglecting other things, or you underspend and get stuck with out of date equipment.

[Blue Supra]

i would personally prefer to be looked after in a hospital then have state of the art military gear.

[clutch-monkey]

i would personally prefer to be looked after in a hospital then have state of the art military gear.
true, unless state of the art military gear can keep me out of a hospital
like a working helicopter

[fpv_gtho]

i would personally prefer to be looked after in a hospital then have state of the art military gear.

Even with our tax surplus, we dont seem to be getting either though. But yeah, i'd rather saving lives than leading people to their death, cause thats essentially what it is.

[crisis]

are we still buying those f35 things that aren't even being produced yet
We are involved in the developement and they are a proposed replacement for both F111 and F18. We are also looking at replacments for Sea Kings, Caribous with either CN-235,C-295 or C-27J Spartan, and longer term the Hercules with the Airbus A400M.
The Orions have just been upgraded ( avionically speaking) to AP3Cs (sentinal) in last March which increases the airframe life, provides state of art performance, and enables the aircraft to operate well into the 21st century with designed-in growth and supportability. The airframes are based on the Lockheed Electra, passenger aircraft, which first flew in 1957!