The Pentagon notified Congress of the potential foreign military sale of 10 C-27J transport aircraft and associated equipment and logistical support to Australia. The deal would be worth up to $950 million, according to a Defense Security Cooperation Agency release. The proposed sale would allow the Australian Defense Force to improve its airlift capability, including for humanitarian operations and disaster-relief activities in Southeast Asia, stated DSCA. The Australians retired their 14 DHC-4 Caribou aircraft in 2009, and will soon retire 12 C-130Hs, creating a need for new airlift assets. The Australians view interoperability with US forces as an “important goal” for future equipment purchases, noted the release. L-3 is the prime contractor for the C-27J. This announcement comes at a time when the Air Force is weighing whether it can afford to complete its planned acquisition of 38 C-27Js or must truncate the buy due to a tightening budget and competing priorities.
While U.S. defense officials have spent much of the past decade warning that China is the nation’s pacing threat and its People’s Liberation Army represents an urgent threat in the Indo-Pacific, several defense researchers are skeptical that the PLA has the human capital, the structural ability, or the political appetite…