The US and Australia have agreed on a rotational deployment of US aircraft in Australia, and the sustainment and maintenance programs that go with it – this involves both countries leaning on allied partners and defence primes, like Lockheed Martin, reported Sky news.
By 2035, there will be more than 300 F35s operating in the Indo-Pacific, which will operate from land-based, from carriers and from amphibious ships.
Lockheed Martin Australia CEO Joe North says the F35 fighter jet is the “fighter of choice here” because nations “know it provides a decisive advantage over any potential adversaries that are out there”.
“We will continue to need a consistent presence out in the allied force world with those advanced capabilities we talk about,” Mr North told Sky News Australia.
“It really will bring an inter-operable collective fleet that will be gathering and fusing data together, which is going to be critical.”
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