ASPI Strategist – Buying military hardware from the US: wish list or shopping list?

A few years ago, an American friend of mine cocked an eye at me sceptically when I raised the issue of Australia’s air force buying F-22 Raptors from the United States. ‘It won’t happen,’ he said flatly. ‘The F-22 incorporates a lot of US-only technology. Re-engineering it so that we could export the aircraft would…