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Subject: theaustralian: 'Defence spending surges to world's 13th largest'
fall out    9/3/2008 7:54:25 PM
AUSTRALIA'S defence budget is now the 13th biggest in the world, an international league table shows. Canberra's defence spending has leapt by about 56 per cent in the past seven years to $25.66 billion, meaning it now spends more than some European Union countries. BIG DEFENCE SPENDERS 1. US $US696.30 billion 2. Britain $US79.27 billion 3. France $US65.74 billion. 4. China $US58.07 billion 5. Japan $US48.10 billion 6. Germany $US43.55 billion 7. Saudi Arabia $US38.32 billion 8. Russian Federation $US36.73 billion 9. Italy $US31.40 billion 10. South Korea $US28.30 billion 11. India $US27.21 billion 12. Brazil $US24.62 billion 13. Australia $US19.74 billion 14. Spain $US19.37 billion 15. Canada $US16.19 billion Source: Jane's Industry Quarterly However, Australia is still dwarfed by the US, which has set aside $US696.30 billion ($832.7 billion) for its armed forces this year. The figures were compiled by defence analysts for Jane's Industry Quarterly which also found that China's defence budget of $US58.07 billion ($69.45 billion) had grown to be the world's fourth largest. Britain and France were the second and third biggest spenders with $US79.27 billion ($94.8 billion) and $US65.74 billion ($78.62 billion) respectively. While Jane's has forecast Australia's spending to hit $29.47 billion in 2010, Defence Minister Joel Fitzgibbon has hired a consultant to see if the amount can be trimmed by $1 billion a year over the next decade. Part of the reason behind the rise in Australia's spending over the years has been its decision to buy more equipment for its armed forces, which have been deployed to hotspots including Iraq and Afghanistan as well as East Timor. The figure rose from $3.5 billion in 2001 to $4.78 billion this year, according to Jane's, with fighter aircraft, tanks and helicopters all on the shopping list. The rest of the money in the overall defence budget is used to cover wages, medical bills, food and operational costs for army, navy and air force personnel. Guy Anderson, editor of Jane's Industry Quarterly, said Australia's strong economic growth was the main reason it could afford to boost its defence budget. As a result, Australia had become an attractive place for foreign defence companies, such as British giant BAE Systems, to set up manufacturing bases to make products to sell worldwide. “The rest of the world is very interested in the Australian defence market,” Anderson told AAP. “It's an advanced and politically stable country in quite a dangerous neighbourhood and there's an explicit government commitment to defence spending. “Australia is also a great springboard for companies into the Asian region as it is one of the better places to do business because of its stability and its strong reputation. “So, if you are an American or French or British defence company you can go into Asia from Australia which gives you an enormous advantage.” AAP --- I'm sure guys are happy about this, I bet you would want more though ;) Any special comments?
 
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fall out       9/14/2008 8:44:56 AM





















What are the chances and cost of re-fitting perhaps 2 of the Collins to have cruise missiles fitted?  Seeing as though any 30k ton carrier is too expensive (and crew intensive) so wouldn't the next best option to be having some of the silent killers lurking around our potential enemies with several missiles ready to take out some priority targets that are too far away or too heavily protected for any conventional air attack. 















TLAM's for the Collins Class would be a complete woftam. The class only carry's 22 weapons (more than 40 for the smallest British and American nukes), so we can't load a meaningful number of TLAM's without compromising their ability to conduct their current, primary roles. We can also only keep 3 operational at the moment anyway, because of crewing shortages. I don't think the ability to keep one Collins class with 10 TLAM off an enemy's shore is going deter anybody. In any case one squadron of tanker supported F-18's or F-35's will be able to deliver three times that number of JASSM cruise missiles several times a day, to any target that we are likely to want to hit.  If JASSM ER gets off the ground the range of that capability will be extended even further.







 







On Australian light AC carriers, the real value of those types of ships would be fleet air, surface and ASW defence, not strike (small carriers can't carry a significant strike capability and defend themselves/the fleet as well), so TLAM equipped subs don't represent a substitute capability anyway. Personally I think maritime protection for merchant shipping into Asia and the Middle East should be a priority mission for the ADF and that carriers would greatly enhance this but like you say it would seriously increase our manning challenges. We might be better off enlarging our a2a tanker fleet (by a LOT) to support land based air cover for shipping. We might also consider getting a common, decent ASW/Anti-Surface helo in decent numbers (enough to use the phibs in a supplmentary ASW role) and buying the fourth AWD.














Alright well then what about if say we bought 2-4 SSKs or SSNs off the French/British/American/Russian and retro fit them into cruise missile carriers...surely that would give enough deterrance.






While I am encouraged by your newfound enthusiasm for defence spending, the fact remains that we can't afford them, can't man them and don't need them :-).


haha umm... yeah not saying I would approve any of this, not even the current level of the mil budget, just talking about options mate! ;)  fair enough.  airpower is king, at least in this number.

 
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