In a previous century the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) did not always fly technologically advanced aircraft that gave it uncontested regional air superiority. That’s a statement which anybody born since the mid-1970s probably has trouble believing, but not only is it true, these times are now also returning.
First, some history.
By the end of the Vietnam War, the RAAF operated more than 100 Mirage III fighters originally bought as point defence interceptors to counter Soviet-built bombers flying out of Indonesia. The trouble was that times were changing: Sukarno fell, others countries in the region became richer, and better jets were bought. For some time, RAAF pilots thought they still had the edge. But then they realised this was no longer the case, as a RAAF fighter pilot of the time Chris Mills notes: ‘My personal experience of loss of air superiority occurred in 1975. I was flying an air combat mission in a Mirage near Butterworth, Malaya at the moment this happened.’
At that time, the Royal Malaysian Air Force had re-equipped with F-5Es that had good manoeuvrability, better missiles and avionics and a low radar cross section. At Mills recounts, their pilots might have had only 50 hours in the aircraft, but they proved superior in mock air combat to RAAF pilots with thousands of flying hours on Mirages.
This situation is now repeating. Other people are getting better jets. This in itself is no cause for concern, as Foreign Minister Julie Bishop recently said most countries in the Asia-Pacific are simply modernising as their military equipment ages. Moreover, most countries near us are democracies and if there is an iron law of international relations it is that democracies don’t fight each other. Accordingly, the focus shifts to countries with more authoritarian governments, and in this our principal ally has sharpened our gaze for us. US Defense Secretary Ash Carter sees the return of geo-political competition in the shape of China and Russia driving future American defence planning and budgets.
To read the full “Contested air superiority returns to the Asia Pacific” article by Griffith Asia Institute Visiting Fellow Peter Layton, please visit The Lowy Interpreter.
