Acquiring Lockheed Martin Lightning II F-35B short take-off vertical landing (STOVL) fighters to operate from the Royal Australian Navy's (RAN's) two 27,800-tonne Canberra class landing helicopter dock (LHD) amphibious ships would not be justified, a leading think-tank has concluded.
This issue could be addressed in a Defence White Paper expected around mid-2015. However, the Australian Strategic Policy Institute (ASPI) said the benefits of such a capability would be marginal at best and would not be justified by the costs.
The study pointed out that the LHDs - the first of which will be commissioned early in 2015 and the second in 2016 - could not carry a full complement of helicopters and amphibious troops with their vehicles and equipment and simultaneously deploy a useful number of STOVL aircraft and additional support aircraft.
Even in a STOVL-only configuration an LHD would face challenges in generating enough F-35B sorties continuously to protect itself and ships in company against a capable adversary, the study said.
"On the other hand, if the threat levels faced by an embarked amphibious force were low, it's doubtful a handful of F-35Bs would really be needed," it added. "While the LHDs could be modified to allow STOVL operations by US Marines during joint operations, the option still runs the risk of being tokenism."
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