UK and Australia to share information on strike aircraft replacement

The Ministry of Defence and the Australian Department of Defence have agreed to exchange information on their programmes for replacing strike aircraft.

The agreement, signed at the Farnborough Air Show, covers the UK's Future Offensive Air System (FOAS) - replacement for the Tornado GR4 - and Australia's AIR 6000 programme, which will replace the F/A-18 and F-111 aircraft.

The agreement will allow the exchange of information and help develop co-operative concept and technology demonstration programmes. It will cover the areas of common requirements, concepts of operations, operational analysis, technology acquisition, sharing of results on co-operative and national programmes, sharing of acquisition policy and processes, and exchange of personnel.

John Spellar, Armed Forces Minister, said, "The United Kingdom and Australia have a similar requirement to replace our current generation strike aircraft, and both countries should benefit from exploring the scope for co-operation. I hope that the defence industry and research establishments in both countries will be able to benefit from involvement in this programme, which is a further example of the significant defence co-operation between our two countries."

FOAS is the UK project to replace the air strike capability currently provided by the Tornado GR4 from 2017. A wide range of potential solutions are being considered, including manned aircraft, unmanned combat air vehicles, air launched unmanned air vehicles, and conventional air launched missiles. A force mix of all of these is possible.

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