COMMONWEALTH OF AUSTRALIA.
SPEECH BY
Rt. Hon. SIR ROBERT MENZIES,
M. P.,
ON
ROYAL AUSTRALIAN AIR FORCE.
MINISTERIAL STATEMENT.
[ From the Parliamentary Debates," 24th October, 1963.1
Sir ROBERT MENZIES ( Kooyong-
Prime Minister).-by leave-Mr. Speaker,
on 22nd May of this year, I made a comprehensive
announcement about a review
of Australian defence, of the defence programme
and of defence expenditure. I
remind the House that that was a time
before any announcement had been made
about an election and before panic had
broken out on the benches opposite. The
decisions that I then announced involved
an average increase in the defence vote,
over a period of five years, of the order
of œ 41,000,000 a year. At the same time,
though I stated the nature of the extended
Mirage fighter procurement, which will give
our fighter forces unsurpassed strength, I
pointed out that neither the programme nor
the figures included any re-equipment of
the strike-reconnaissance force. I quote
what I went on to say, because I think it
is important that this be kept in mind. I
remind the House that it was said on 22nd
May. I went on to say-
This is an important matter. The Canberra
is by no means obsolete...
I wonder whether I may interrupt myself at
that point, Sir, to say that to-day I have
10857/ 63. observed that the Leader of the Opposition
( Mr. Galwell), who goes into print on these
matters so hastily, has had his views published
in a not-always-reliable newspaper. I
want to quote from this report, but I do
not vouch for the accuracy of it. Oh dear,
no! I quote it for what it is worth, for it
records the Leader of the Opposition as
having said-
One thing is certain. The Government could
not have gone into the election campaign without
having at least some plausible story to show
that it was at least-
Perhaps last was meanttrying
to replace the Canberra which has been
obsolescent since 1949.
1 am always willing to concede the chances
of error in that journal.
Mr. L. R. Johnson.-What journal is it?
Sir ROBERT MENZIES.-The Sydney
" Daily Mirror
Mr. L. R. Johnson.-The Daily
Mirror Sir ROBERT MENZ~ IES.-Yes-your
official organ. I am always prepared to
concede the possibility and, indeed, the
probability, of error in that journal. I
take leave to point out to the House that,
so far from the Canberra being obsolescent
in 1949, not until early in 1951 was I
invited to go to an aerodrome in England
to name this new aircraft " Canberra" and
to see it taken up by the test pilot
on a demonstration flight. Therefore,
long before it was born, it appears
to have been obsolescent. This introduces
a new problem into obstetrics.
With that human aside, I go on to quote
what I said in May-
This is an important matter. The Canberra is
by no means obsolete; it is still being used by
overseas air forces, including those of Nato. But
we are giving close consideration to the future
as we must. There are, of course, great financial
problems, but there are vital questions as to the
availability of suitable types to meet our requirements.
Having regard to our special geographic
circumstances, we must consider range, the
capacity to perform both reconnaissance and
attack and the ability to use existing runways and
services. An on-the-spot evaluation by a team of
qualified experts is necessary, as it was in the
selection of the Mirage. Such a team will be
sent overseas at an early date, under the Chief
of the Air Staff to investigate and report. Then,
of course, the Government will consider the matter
further in the light of the report.
We sent the evaluation team overseas and in
due course received its report. It was clear
that, subject to problems of the time-table
and of payment and of interim provision to
supplement if necessary the Canberra force,
the evaluation team regarded what was then
called the TFX in the United States as the
most modern and complete answer to our
requirements. I then decided to ask the Minister for
Defence ( Mr. Townley) to undertake the
very onerous task of going to the United
States to examine these problems more
closely on a government level. He had, of
course, one further objective. He was not
to discuss aircraft in isolation from, strategic
needs and priorities, but he was to have
close political consultation with the United
States Administration on those very matters.
It is very easy, if I may say so to the Leader
of the Opposition, to say, " We will procure
a Canberra replacement as if all
we had to do was to go, so to speak, to
the shop and buy it over the counter.
Honorable members will realize that this
is not the position to-day. Both of the two
most recently designed reconnaissance
bombers, the TSR-2 in England and the TFX
in the United States, are still in the developmental stage. It will of necessity be some
time before they become available. The
cost of such modern instruments of war is,
of course, enormous, although the cost tends
to come down if very large orders are
placed. The Minister for Defence has the great
advantage of being on very close and
friendly terms with the American defence
administration. My colleagues and I felt
that he would have a reasonable prospect
of fruitful discussion. I am happy to tell
the House that his mission has been most
remarkably successful; so successful that I
have found it necessary to advise the United
Kingdom Government that we propose to
go ahead with the arrangement he has
negotiated. Before going on to state the substance of
the arrangement that my colleague has
made in Washington, I would like to say
that I have observed some inspired statements
in one or two newspapers to the
effect that our discussions in the United
States were either accelerated or affected by
some statement made in this House by the
Leader of the Opposition. I did not have
the goad fortune to hear it. The answer to
this is that we had our first full and
promising report from the Minister for
Defence before the Leader of the Opposition
spoke at all. Having received it and
studied it, we were attracted by it, but we
sent one or two inquiries to him so that
he might clear up a few outstanding points.
This he has done, with the result that I will
in a few moments announce it to the House.
The whole business of re-equipping the
Air Force is extremely complex. It cannot
be solved by a few rhetorical phrases. It
has in the present case required most
exhaustive technical investigations by our
highest technical advisers and this rather
remarkable negotiation which has been conducted
by the Minister himself in the
United States.
In the result, the defence programme I
announced, which represented a large
increase, will be very substantially added
to. But the arrangements made by my
colleague will unquestionably result in a
very substantial saving to Australia, as
against the. original estimates of TFX costs
as formulated when the evaluation mission
made its inquiries. To this must be added
the other practical defence advantages
which will appear.
I will now state in agreed language the
nature of the arrangements that have been
made. In pursuance of the Government's
policy of improving Australia's defence preparations,
the Minister for Defence has
been in Washington discussing with Mr.
McNamara, the United States Secretary of
Defence, the re-equipment of Australia's
bomber squadrons, together with other
defence matters of mutual interest. As a
result of these negotiations, the following
most favorable arrangements have been
made with the United States: The Government
of Australia has agreed to purchase
from the United States two squadrons of
F-I IIA aircraft, which used to be called the
TEX. By special arrangements with the
United States of America, the aircraft will
be available to Australia at the same time
as delivetties are made to the United States
armed forces, which will be from 1967
onwards. I emphasize that date because of
rumours that made it a couple of years
later. Financial arrangements are entirely
satisfactory to Australia.
In a most favorable package deal, if I
may use that phrase, the United States has
agreed to supply the aircraft on the basis
of a purchase price that includes one year's
initial spare parts including engines, ground
handling equipment, training aids, and the
initial and operational training of crews,
which would be carried out in the United
States. A further important and valuable consideration
is that the United States has
agreed to integration of the Royal Australian
Air Force and the United States armed
forces logistic pattern so that Australia will
be able to draw future requirements of
spare parts and equipment from American
stocks and therefore secure the advantage
of much lower prices than would be the
case if Australia itself had to procure
independently the full range of stores.
The financial arrangements for the purchase
of the F-il11A aircraft enables Australia
to spread its payments to suit its own
budgetary requirements over a period of
years. As Australia will commence progress
payments immediately, a special and
important part of the deal is that Australia's
payments will attract interest from the United States until such time as payments
are in fact made to the United States contractors
for the aircraft. The F-il lA aircraft
will now be available to Australia at
least two years earlier than had previously
been thought possible. At the same time,
in case the years between now and 1967
were to see a deterioration in the international
situation, the Government has been
concerned that Australia should have, if
necessary, some additional long range strike
and reconnaissance capacity in the R. A. A. F.
over the intervening years.
Arrangements have now been made to
ensure that there will be suitable strike
reconnaissance aircraft available to the
R. A. A. F. until the F-i111A comes into
operational service. Agreement has been
reached with the United States that up to
two squadrons of B47E aircraft will be
made available to Australia with no leasing
charge to the Australian Government. Australian
personnel will be trained by the
United States Air Force on the basis of
reimbursement for actual costs, and ground
handling equipment and logistic support
provided at satisfactory prices.
Performance details of the F-il11A are
classified-that is, they are not available for
general consumption-but it can be said
that it is a two-man bomber which can fly
at two and a half times the speed of sound
and well above supersonic speed at sea level.
It can take off and land from short and, if
necessary, rough airfields. It can fly to any
place on earth within 24 hours.
The F-il11A programme embarked upon
by the United States is the largest programme,
both in numbers and in cost, of
any aircraft since World War II. It is, in
other words, the last word. Twenty-two
prototype and development aircraft are
scheduled for delivery to the United States
in 1965 and we are told -that we will secure
our first deliveries in 1967.
The B47E is now used in the Strategic
Air Command of the United States and will
be in squadron service, particularly in this
part of the world, for some years. It has
proved a most versatile and effective aircraft
in operational service to date. Its full
operational capability is still partly classified
that is to say, partly not for general publication-
but it has a sub-sonic speed of
over 600 miles an hour and a ceiling of over
40,000 feet. It is also particularly effective
at low level. This is important. It is a
six-engine aircraft with a range of over
3,000 miles and a capacity to carry over
20,000 lb. of conventional bombs. It is
equipped for air-to-air refuelling.
Putting all controversy on one side, I am
sure that all honorable members will agree not only that my colleague's mission reflects
credit on himself but also -that its success is
an indication of the genuine goodwill which
the United States has towards our country
and of the high opinion which the United
States Government has of the capacity of
the Australian armed forces and of the
reliability and importance of Australia as a
nation and law in this area of the world.
BY AUTHORITY: A. J. ARTHUR, COMMONWEALTH GOVERNMENT PRINTER, CANBERRA.