*UPDATE* Self sufficiency

As a next exercise in "whatever" shows up someday in the form of a new Defence White Paper, let us look at "self-reliance".

I think that "self-reliance" needs to be pushed more toward "self sufficiency".

Wherever possible.

The Army:

All soldier kit must be made in Australia.

Uniforms, personal items, weapons.

As for vehicles, Australia has a skilled vehicle production industry. This means everything from tanks down to small wheeled vehicles should be produced here.

The Navy:

Australia has a ship-building industry which means that any kind of useful RAN ship can be built here. We don't need Spain or anyone.

The RAAF.

Here is where we have serious problems. For example, As Australia ends up with an all Super Hornet force after the F-35 fails completely, any current aircraft procurement needs to be redone from scratch.

Like what was offered to India, any Super Hornet production should be 100 percent offsets. Ditto with a much better fit, the Gripen. Saab can do this.

As a reader properly pointed out, the RAAF airlift roadmap is in a shambles.

There are no known (or few known) Boeing 757s in country but the C-17 uses this engine.

Getting rid of the C-130H caused a similar problem. Australia had full skilling for C-130H engine repair.

The C-17 and C-130J depend on a foreign logistics model where our people turn screw-drivers or speed wrenches occasionally and the rest of it is warehousing and transport.

Aircraft like the C-17 and C-130J need to be eliminated from our inventory if their logistics support model doesn't comply with self sufficiency.

Ditto for the helicopter mess.

The next Defence White Paper should for the most part focus on rebuilding ethical leadership and since there is no money to waste on gold-plated Defence waste, it should also focus on self sufficiency.

All current contracts with foreign suppliers should be up for review. Those that are unable to comply with a self sufficiency rule (for example license building products), need to be cancelled.

It is part of a reasonable Defence organisation for a country our of our size, population and geo-political realities.

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UPDATE -

"Boeing, which is vying to sell Canada the Super Hornet, is now promising offsets for Canadian industry worth 100 percent of the purchase contract value."