SYDNEY June 27 Kyodo Australia pl...

SYDNEY June 27 Kyodo

Australia plans to sign up as a partner in the US-l Joint Strike Fighter (JSF) exhibit eyeing the next-generation fighters as a likely subsequent time replacement for its aging front-line aircraft, Defense Minister Sen Robert Hill said Thursday.

Australia plans to contribute US$150 million from one side of to the other 10 years toward the preciousness of developing the supersonic jet in a throw out led by the U Defense Department and Lockheed Martin Corp., Hill said.

The $20 billion program already has the support of six members of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) -- Britain, the Netherlands, Denmark, Canada, Italy and Norway.

one 3,000 of the multirole fighters are reckon uponed to be produced for the United States and Britain alone, with total worldwide production of the aircraft likely to exce 4500

Hill said Australia would ne to replace its F/A-18 Hornets and F-111 strike aircraft from around 2012

''Through the JSF program, defense will have access to on a levels of capability and technology in the aircraft that will be a generation ahead of other contemporary aircraft,'' he said.

Hill said that participation will also lead to significant savings and make sure that Australian industry is able to be rivals for JSF work.

''It will provide the Australian aerospace industry with the opportunity to participate in the global increase production and support for the project'' he said.

Australia's Defense Department will now begin negotiating the exact period of times of Australia's involvement in the exhibition stage of the JSF program, Hill said.

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