US Secretary of Defense Robert Gates said yesterday he would look into F-22 fighters for Australia but made no promises to lobby the US Congress to lift a ban on foreign sales of the most advanced US fighter.
Gates said he would pursue it when he returns to Washington next week "given the importance that our Australian friends attach to it," but he said he did not know if it was realistic to expect action to lift the export restrictions.
"Because we have not had the ability to sell the F-22, to be honest I haven't delved into all the reasons for that -- what the complications would be, the questions about whether a new design would be required for export," he told reporters.
"I just need to go back and get better educated on this and in concert with the secretary of state decide if this is a matter that we should pursue with the Congress," he said.
Australian Defense Minister Joel Fitzgibbon said at a news conference with Gates on Saturday that Australia wanted the opportunity to consider the F-22 as part of a review of the country's air capabilities.
Gates said the US had no objection in principle, but could not sell the fighter until the law was changed.
"I would have to say, quite honestly, I am not optimistic about that prospect. But we will work on it," he told Sky News in an interview broadcast yesterday.
Japan has also been pressing Washington to release the F-22 for export.
The stealth fighter can cruise at supersonic speeds, has radars capable of detecting cruise missiles and wideband data links for networked operations.
But Beijing is likely to perceive the fighter's introduction in the region as directed against it.
Fitzgibbon said Australia wanted to maintain air superiority over its northern neighbors, although he refused to say if he was referring to China.
"I don't think it's appropriate for me to talk about a threat but I would make one simple point, there is no question that the key to Australia's defenses is maintaining the air superiority we enjoy to our north," he said.
"On that basis we have to make absolutely sure we make the correct decisions as we plan for both the near and long-term future," he said.
The F-22 is only one of a range of issues raised in annual US-Australian security talks hosted by the new Labor government.
They discussed Australia's plans to draw down combat troops from Iraq by the middle of this year and a change in approach in Afghanistan from strictly combat operations to police training and civil affairs work.
They also shared perspectives on regional issues, including China and southeast Asia, officials said.
Australian Foreign Affairs Minister Stephen Smith, speaking on TV yesterday, said among the issues discussed was whether Canberra would join a US missile defense system.
In opposition, Labor had opposed the system on cost and the available technology but Smith said the technology had changed and the government was now considering joining the system.
"It's not a matter of being coy ... [but] we don't want to make any decisions which would deprive us of technology which might, in the end, be in our national security interests and be able to protect our forces in the field," he said.
Russia and Ukraine have exchanged prisoners of war in the latest such swap that saw the release of hundreds of captives and was brokered with the help of the United Arab Emirates (UAE), officials said on Monday. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said that 189 Ukrainian prisoners, including military personnel, border guards and national guards — along with two civilians — were freed. He thanked the UAE for helping negotiate the exchange. The Russian Ministry of Defense said that 150 Russian troops were freed from captivity as part of the exchange in which each side released 150 people. The reason for the discrepancy in numbers
A shark attack off Egypt’s Red Sea coast killed a tourist and injured another, authorities said on Sunday, with an Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs source identifying both as Italian nationals. “Two foreigners were attacked by a shark in the northern Marsa Alam area, which led to the injury of one and the death of the other,” the Egyptian Ministry of Environment said in a statement. A source at the Italian foreign ministry said that the man killed was a 48-year-old resident of Rome. The injured man was 69 years old. They were both taken to hospital in Port Ghalib, about 50km north
The foreign ministers of Germany, France and Poland on Tuesday expressed concern about “the political crisis” in Georgia, two days after Mikheil Kavelashvili was formally inaugurated as president of the South Caucasus nation, cementing the ruling party’s grip in what the opposition calls a blow to the country’s EU aspirations and a victory for former imperial ruler Russia. “We strongly condemn last week’s violence against peaceful protesters, media and opposition leaders, and recall Georgian authorities’ responsibility to respect human rights and protect fundamental freedoms, including the freedom to assembly and media freedom,” the three ministers wrote in a joint statement. In reaction
BARRIER BLAME: An aviation expert questioned the location of a solid wall past the end of the runway, saying that it was ‘very bad luck for this particular airplane’ A team of US investigators, including representatives from Boeing, on Tuesday examined the site of a plane crash that killed 179 people in South Korea, while authorities were conducting safety inspections on all Boeing 737-800 aircraft operated by the country’s airlines. All but two of the 181 people aboard the Boeing 737-800 operated by South Korean budget airline Jeju Air died in Sunday’s crash. Video showed the aircraft, without its landing gear deployed, crash-landed on its belly and overshoot a runaway at Muan International Airport before it slammed into a barrier and burst into flames. The plane was seen having engine trouble.
RSS