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Australia to end air strikes in Iraq and Syria, bring Super Hornets home

webfact

By webfact
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webfact Grand Master Member

webfact

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Australia to end air strikes in Iraq and Syria, bring Super Hornets home

 

SYDNEY (Reuters) - Australia will end air strikes against Islamic State in Iraq and Syria and bring its six Super Hornet planes home after three years as part of the U.S.-led coalition in the Middle East, Defence Minister Marise Payne said on Friday.

 

She told a media conference the decision was made following the Iraqi declaration of victory over Islamic State.

 

"Following discussions with Iraq and with members of the international coalition, the Australian government has determined that we will bring home our six Super Hornet strike aircraft from the Middle East," Payne told reporters.

 

"It has been long. It has been arduous. It has been brutal. All of our personnel made an extraordinary contribution."

 

Australia has been in the Middle East as part of the U.S.-led effort against Islamic State since 2014.

 

Payne said other Australian operations in the region would continue, with 80 personnel who are part of the Special Operations Task Group in Iraq, including Australian special forces, continuing their deployment.

 

Australian soldiers have also been training Iraqi troops at the Taji military base outside Baghdad.

 

(Reporting by Wayne Cole; Editing by Eric Meijer)

 
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-- © Copyright Reuters 2017-12-22
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thaibeachlovers Star Member

thaibeachlovers

Posted
Posted
7 minutes ago, observer90210 said:

Good !!...It will save billions of the Aussie tax payers money !..and save a few lives of their servicemen.

It's a foolish move that will save nothing from the budget.

The military need to fight to get skills, and a non fighting force becomes useless as those that have experience leave and are replaced by those that have no clue. Many lives are lost at the beginning of any conflict as personnel relearn the lessons of war.

 

As for lives lost- isn't it a volunteer force? If they are not willing to risk death, they shouldn't be in the forces anyway.

 

If Australians don't want to pay for the military they should join NZ in getting rid of all the warplanes and print up some leaflets in different languages saying "we surrender".

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simple1 Star Member

simple1

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1 hour ago, wombat said:

@ $Aus750K per bomb purchased from the USA,

 

did we actually drop any?

Yes, during 2017 over 700 sorties. It was costing the taxpayer approx billion dollars a year for the Oz military deployed in Iraq/Syria. One would guess the ongoing costs for support and training in Iraq will still be in the hundreds of millions. Some detail of air operations...

 

http://www.defence.gov.au/Operations/Okra/FortnightlyReports.asp

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simple1 Star Member

simple1

Posted
Posted
1 hour ago, thaibeachlovers said:

It's a foolish move that will save nothing from the budget.

The military need to fight to get skills, and a non fighting force becomes useless as those that have experience leave and are replaced by those that have no clue. Many lives are lost at the beginning of any conflict as personnel relearn the lessons of war.

 

As for lives lost- isn't it a volunteer force? If they are not willing to risk death, they shouldn't be in the forces anyway.

 

If Australians don't want to pay for the military they should join NZ in getting rid of all the warplanes and print up some leaflets in different languages saying "we surrender".

Read the OP, the withdrawal only applies to six Super Hornet strike aircraft

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Thaidream Advanced Member

Thaidream

Posted
Posted (edited)

Smart move by the Aussies- no need to keep funding operations that no longer have validity. Wish the Americans were as smart- the Middle East operations have cost the Americans almost $1Trillion since the beginning of the Gulf War.  Americans have no universal healthcare- we all know why. Trump ad his minions will continue to expand America's Middle East role simply to keep Saudi Arabia happy Time to get the hell out of the Middle East.

Edited by Thaidream
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thaibeachlovers Star Member

thaibeachlovers

Posted
Posted
33 minutes ago, Thaidream said:

Smart move by the Aussies- no need to keep funding operations that no longer have validity. Wish the Americans were as smart- the Middle East operations have cost the Americans almost $1Trillion since the beginning of the Gulf War.  Americans have no universal healthcare- we all know why. Trump ad his minions will continue to expand America's Middle East role simply to keep Saudi Arabia happy Time to get the hell out of the Middle East.

Given the American need to have "allies" there, Australia should have got the US to pay for the bombs and aircraft running costs. Would have been a tiny expense for the US military, compared to a large expense for the Aussies.

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Guest

Guest

Posted
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3 hours ago, wombat said:

@ $Aus750K per bomb purchased from the USA,

 

did we actually drop any?

Should that money to be marked as military aid or humanitarian aid from Australian government to USA companies?

 

 

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tryasimight Senior Member

tryasimight

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21 hours ago, thaibeachlovers said:

Yes, but do they have any other aircraft on active service?

I think we have a couple of hang gliders and four drones bought from Dick Smith but apparently D size batteries are in short supply over there so they were withdrawn from service,  gift wrapped and will be given to selected members of parliament as Christmas presents for their kids.  Naturally these will be declared on the register of interests. If they can get them through customs of course. 

 

Anyway bringing back six planes will double the size of our Air Force. 

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Morch Star Member

Morch

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39 minutes ago, tryasimight said:

I think we have a couple of hang gliders and four drones bought from Dick Smith but apparently D size batteries are in short supply over there so they were withdrawn from service,  gift wrapped and will be given to selected members of parliament as Christmas presents for their kids.  Naturally these will be declared on the register of interests. If they can get them through customs of course. 

 

Anyway bringing back six planes will double the size of our Air Force. 

 

List of current Royal Australian Air Force aircraft

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_current_Royal_Australian_Air_Force_aircraft

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InMyShadow Explorer Member

InMyShadow

Posted
Posted
It's a foolish move that will save nothing from the budget.
The military need to fight to get skills, and a non fighting force becomes useless as those that have experience leave and are replaced by those that have no clue. Many lives are lost at the beginning of any conflict as personnel relearn the lessons of war.
 
As for lives lost- isn't it a volunteer force? If they are not willing to risk death, they shouldn't be in the forces anyway.
 
If Australians don't want to pay for the military they should join NZ in getting rid of all the warplanes and print up some leaflets in different languages saying "we surrender".
Yes we need wars to test the latest weapons on real targets, that's fact you can't simulate reality in war games
But in this instance the testing was was done, it's over. Time to go home untill the next round.
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thaibeachlovers Star Member

thaibeachlovers

Posted
Posted
15 hours ago, InMyShadow said:

Yes we need wars to test the latest weapons on real targets, that's fact you can't simulate reality in war games
But in this instance the testing was was done, it's over. Time to go home untill the next round.

My point was actually that real people need to be using the weapons. Skills are like anything else- use them or lose them.

 

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