7th Fleet Focus: The Royal Australian Navy Carrier Strike Squadron?

My friend Eric has covered every up and down, left and right, for and against point and counterpoint in the Australian 'stop-gap' F/A-18 Super Hornet purchase. His reaction this morning to this article in The Australian was my first reaction, but the more I have thought about this, the more I think this might be a good idea.

A select handful of Royal Australian Air Force instructors will be chosen for lessons on how to land on US aircraft carriers flying the new F/A-18F Super Hornet fighter.

The plan, which could eventually lead to participation in US carrier-based operations, marks the first time Australian pilots have flown off aircraft carriers since the retirement of the navy's flagship carrier HMAS Melbourne in 1982.

The carrier training underscores the rapidly evolving military partnership between the US and Australian military.

Senior US navy sources said the relationship was likely to involve an increasing convergence in training and tactics between the RAAF's fast jets and their US equivalent.

RAAF Flight Lieutenant John Haly will become the first Australian air force pilot to become carrier-qualified when he attempts his toughest flying skills test later this year.

Asked to clarify RAAF Super Hornet training, Defence Minister Brendan Nelson said yesterday: "There is no plan for RAAF pilots to undertake training in aircraft carrier landings."

The official government line contradicts briefings provided to The Australian by senior US military officials at Lemoore Naval Air Station in California that other RAAF "Top Gun" instructor pilots are expected to follow Flight Lieutenant Haly and be provided with carrier training.

Full-scale Super Hornet training for RAAF air crew starts in the US in 2009.

I have a feeling the only thing we have learned here is that what Defence Minister Brendan Nelson says isn't always to be taken at face value, oh wait we already knew that. The question here is whether or not the Australian Super Hornets will have a tailhook. If they do, I'd say an Australian Carrier Air Squadron is probable, without a tailhook I'd say unlikely.

Integrating strike fighter squadrons from other countries onto US Carriers isn't a bad idea, its just the number of nations where it would, could. or should be tried is somewhat small. Many people have assumed strike squadron integration could become common in the future with the Joint Strike Fighter, but I don't think so.

Australia isn't buying the VSTOL Joint Strike Fighter (or hasn't officially expressed interest to), they are buying the land based conventional version so it isn't like operations off US Carriers is a capability option in the future (unless something changes). While it is possible it could 'potentially' happen in the future with the VSTOL JSF, the US Navy may choose not to allow integration of VSTOL JSFs on its big deck carriers, logistically it may not be an option if the US is supporting the Navy JSF version, and the Marines simply may not have extra space for non US VSTOL JSFs on its smaller aviation ships.

Personally, I hope Defence Minister Brendan Nelson is wrong, and Australia is preparing its pilots for Carrier operations. I think this capability would make up in some part for the gap between the F/A-18E/Fs and the F-111s, because strategic mobility gained might balance out strategic payload and range lost. It would also, most importantly, show some strategic depth in planning between the US and Australia. The US is best when it is playing the role of logistical enabler. Australia on the other hand, plays an active role in regional stability in the South Pacific.

In the future, Australia may deploy its two soon to be built LHDs on a stability mission in the region and the F/A-18Fs could fly off a US Carrier to provide close air support to those operations. May sound simplistic, but it is hard to say the US is doing anything other than simply providing 4 acres of sovereign property in the middle of some large body of water for Australian air operations, which is no more than another country would be doing if they were allowing Australia to utilize their airfield.