The Lockheed Martin F-35 Lightning II is an American single-seat, single-engine, supersonic stealth strike fighter. It is a multirole combat aircraft designed for both air superiority and strike missions, it also has electronic warfare and intelligence gathering capability1.
The Royal Australian Air Force has obtained 72 F35s and these are primarily based at Williamtown air base near Newcastle, with some being operated from Tindal air base in the Northern Territory. Numerous parts for the aircraft are also manufactured in Australia2.
Ever since the genocide in Gaza commenced after the Hamas attack on Israel, the federal government has long denied breaching international law by exporting weapons to Israel. However, denial is no longer credible3.
While sending most manufactured parts to a pool of parts in Europe and the US, leaked documents show F-35 parts are being exported directly to Israel by sneaking some into cargo on commercial flights4.
Foreign Minister, Penny Wong stated, in Parliament House: “We are not supplying weapons or ammunition to Israel … As part of the global F-35 supply chain, we are supplying components and parts that are non-lethal in nature5.
I used to have some respect for Penny Wong. She seemed to have a modicum of calm that many politicians lack, a semblance of knowledge that few politicians have and a lack of the bullshit that so many politicians seem to have in spades. However, after this, respecting her is not even vaguely possible. The only lethal part of an F35 aircraft is, in some variants, a 25mm rotary cannon6.
Other than that, there are no ‘lethal’ parts to an F35 aircraft. All its weapons are either in internal weapons bays, on the wingtips, or on pylons under the wings and these are loaded onto the aircraft by ground crew1. The delivery of ‘non-lethal’ parts to Israel allows their F35s to continue operations against civilians on the ground in their tents, homes, schools and hospitals. To use this as an excuse to continue supporting Israel in its genocide in Gaza is at best disingenuous or indicates that Penny Wong is either an idiot herself, or takes the rest of the Australian population for idiots.
Sources
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lockheed_Martin_F-35_Lightning_II
- https://djsir.vic.gov.au/made-in-victoria/about/manufacturing-case-studies/from-moorabbin-to-space-how-the-f-35-is-taking-victoria-to-the-world
- https://michaelwest.com.au/australia-sells-weapons-parts-directly-to-israel/
- https://declassifiedaus.org/2025/07/11/revealed-australia-has-exported-f-35-fighter-jet-parts-directly-to-israel/
- https://theshot.net.au/uncategorized/a-comprehensive-list-of-the-non-lethal-parts-of-my-big-death-plane/
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GAU-12_Equalizer#GAU-22/A
“To use this as an excuse to continue supporting Israel in its genocide in Gaza is at best disingenuous or indicates that Penny Wong is either an idiot herself, or takes the rest of the Australian population for idiots.”
It’s the latter. She used to be, as you say, almost a model politician. But the ALP’s need for enduring power has seen them say and do the most ridiculous things. And then expect us to support them.
Do they think we are stupid, indeed!
Mercurial,
I suspect that is the case.
Not sure if it’s as black and white as it appears, although who knows what arrangements uniformed AA (why aren’t they “Royal” I wonder), RAN and RAAF command have in place. One would hope NONE but as far as Army goes I wouldn’t trust them as far as I could throw a tank.
https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/marles-enforces-his-veto-on-all-potential-defence-shipments-to-israel-20240610-p5jkly.html
Can’t say I like Modi at all but at least India understands the enormous pitfalls of throwing your lot in with the American defence ecosystem – especially under dangerously anti-democratic Republican/autocratic administrations – and is prepared to find alternative solutions. https://aerospaceglobalnews.com/news/india-f35-fighter-jet-rejection/
“France isn’t just selling India fighter jets, it’s building long-term trust,” said the defence expert. “If India is flying French today and manufacturing French platforms tomorrow, that’s not just a transaction. That’s the foundation of a strategic partnership.”
Meanwhile our lazy bastards – in both major parties – have for decades simply toddled along with what our rusted on uniformed Defence people say about hardware purchases when the truth is our only real defence strategy is to hope America would come to our assistance, if only to defend their own assets in Pine Gap. Hindsight’s wonderful and I guess no-one could really foresee what America would quickly become under an ideologically blind, amoral SCOTUS and a sociopathic dictator but If the UK, France, Japan and Australia hadn’t been so complacent they could have been solved multiple self-defence and economic problems by working together. We’ve been lulled into a false sense of security by lazy politicians for decades and been badly let down by blinkered defence commands for even longer.
Jon,
The army has in the past opted for German Leopard tanks (prior to the Abrams, with 49 superseded versions of these going to Ukraine), and European MH90 Taipan helicopters (which proved unsatisfactory for some reason or other). The RAAF has bought US aircraft since the days of the Mirage IIIO, while the RAN has not used US craft since the Perry class of frigates. These were replaced with German-derived Anzac class which now look like being superseded by a Japanese design. For destroyers, the most recent purchases have been Spanish (Hobart class), as have the helicopter carriers.
As to my query about the non-Royal Australian Army, seems it’s simply because that’s the way it evolved and not a single one of our Army commanders thought it was an anomaly worth persuing.
There’s much more to it but David Hartshorn summarised succinctly on an ADF Community site:
“The RAN and RAAF don’t have corps. Some, but not all army corps have a royal prefix, but not the parent army organisation. Like anything that’s how the services evolved.”
…pursuing
why the fuck are we even friends with israhell in the first place?. it couldn’t simply be that they, just like Australia, are a white ethno european derived invading settler colonialist occupation? could it? they are certainly NO democracy. Geez, wasn’t Labor in (or near) the vanguard against apartheid SA?
We are sure dragging our feet re recognition of Palestine etc, (presumably lest we incur the displeasure of uncle sam*), whilst we were pretty hot to trot and defund UNRWA, the instant the IOF came out with it’s bogus unfounded declaration (with zero evidence) that UNRWA was Hamas and we ceased funding IMMEDIATELY.
And why the fuck do western media (and govts) blithely accept IOF bollocks at face value and barely/rarely apologise or even accept they were duped when the bollocks is exposed as bollocks …. time & time & time & time & time again. Saw an interesting placard t’other day “you think it started on 7 oct, because bbc wont show seasons 1 2 & 3”
and of course my particular favourite. “know what also DIED in GAZA? the MYTH of western HUMANITY and DEMOCRACY”
* and oh, wouldn’t that be a terrible terrible thing 😀 **
** first time i’ve used a footnote in almost 50 years …. and not expecting it to be graded 🙂
Israel’s FAR closer to a democracy than the maggot-riddled USA Clive, although like Trump and his Supreme Court sycophants, Netanyahu has followed their lead by attacking the rule of law. Unlike typical Americans though – let’s not forget that 90M of these deadshits couldn’t be bothered voting in the last election – Israelis understand the slippery slope of right wing “judicial reform” and have protested in their multitudes. Hapless/mindless Hamas fwits then gave Netanyahu breathing space from troubles at home and an excuse to obliterate Palestine. Their murderous actions have “legitimised” (in Netanyahu’s mind and the minds of other Jewish extremists and their supporters around the world) Israel’s annexation of Paletinian lands and the ongoing mistreatment of its people.
whoa, a lot to unpack there.
“Israel’s FAR closer to a democracy than the maggot-riddled USA” That is quite a considerable stretch Jon. if one is israeli & white european perhaps, but try telling that to West Bank Palestinians. Whilst i am totally in agreement that ‘meriKa currently is, flushing itself, (or being flushed), down the toilet.
“Their [hamas] murderous actions have “legitimised” Israel’s annexation of Paletinian (sic) lands” Are we perhaps ignoring 80 years of occupation, barbarity & general arseholery? Not to mention that the UN specifically condones the right of an occupied people to resist occupation by any & all means available. 80 years of appealing to the world by (mostly) peaceful means hasn’t gleaned a great deal of joy.
And on the subject of ‘murderous actions’, it seems there is a considerable growing body of thought that the vast numbers of jewish deaths were actually committed by the IDF in accordance with israel’s ‘Hannibal Directive’ aka ‘Hannibal Protocol’.
netanfukyu & his grubby ilk did not suddenly decide on oct 7th to begin this ‘amalek’ style extermination, it’s been on their minds for decades.
Yes I know a little about the West Bank Clive, and Arabs who continue to live in Israel, even a tiny bit about the long history involved (who scuttled the Begin-Arafat agreement for example – it wasn’t, primarily, Arab extremists although they have the very same aim as Jewish/Zionist extremists. I also now know about Egypt et al’s attempt to invade Israel in 1973, and I’ve done SOME reading about Hamas’ bloody removal of its far more moderate Fatah rivals in 2005 and the completely naive acts by Bush and Rice to not sideline that mob of corrupt , self-righteous thugs before the last Palestinian elections – nearly two decades ago. And I totally agree with you wrt Netanyahu’s desire for an “ultimate solution” – pretty sure I’ve made that very point on Blot before. Interestingly one article I read suggested he wasn’t always that way inclined.
Israel’s democracy has been perverted by religious zealots at home and around the world but it’s still much stronger than numerous other countries – including, obviously, “Palestine” under Hamas. Current polls for the next Israeli elections give some cause for hope, and change from the convenient belligerence under the contemptible Netanyahu, Ben-Gvir etc.
There are many thousands of what appear to me to be at least moderately unbiased articles, opinions and hsitorical summaries on the conflict which deal with a huge variety of the issues. Here’s just one with a little background on Hamas: https://jstribune.com/svetlova-the-primary-victims-of-hamas-are-palestinian/
Iirc I posted another link to an article by author Fred Kaplan on the Bush/Rice stupidity: https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2023/10/was-hamas-elected-to-govern-gaza-george-w-bush-2006-palestinian-election.html
A related, but different interview with Kaplan here if you prefer: https://www.wnyc.org/story/us-role-israel-hamas-war/
Clive,
While writing a rant a while ago, my research, such as it is, showed that some IDF people knew that the Hamas attack was being planned and prepared, but were ignored either through stupidity, or malice. It has made me suspicious that it was the latter.
Public knowledge BA. Israel was provided with specific details of a plan (apparently dubbed “Jericho Wall”) which mirrored the actual raid very closely but dismissed it as ‘aspirational’ because (some) senior defence brass believed Hamas didn’t have the capability or the inclination. From public information alone it’s clear Israeli spies in Palestine had provided credible information for many months before the Oct7 massacre, not just about the potential for an attack, but also about the build up of tunnels and very likely arms from sympathetic Arab states – mainly Iran. At least one Israeli analyst was quite vehement about her belief in the credibility of the information but “wiser” heads above waved it away. Almost zero chance that members of the Israeli security cabinet weren’t aware of the warning, but that will eventually come out in the promised enquiry.
Plenty of articles on that particular topic. This is one of the better ones, which I hadn’t read until just now: https://www.nytimes.com/2023/11/30/world/middleeast/israel-hamas-attack-intelligence.html
Netanyahu delayed an inquiry into the security failures until after Israel has achieved its objectives, which could loosely be described as the elimination of Hamas, WHATEVER THE COST. A classic case of the amoral mantra ‘the ends justifies the means’. Some have suggested that not only would an enquiry have futher erode Netanyahu’s standing in Israel but it would also have distracted from the task of punishing Palestinians and turning Gaza into a wasteland. Revelations about the security f-up led to the resignation of the Army Chief, but many more reputations will no doubt crumble during and after the enquiry.
Jon,
Assuming there is an enquiry.
Clive,
It boggles my mind too, but I suspect that at base it is all about money. The US dumps money and weapons into the arms of Israel to the tune of many billions a year, such that the military-industrial complex depends in part on such largesse. As a consequence, they donate to politicians who are quite happy to see many tens of thousands of Palestinians in Gaza murdered as long as the money keeps flowing. I suspect there is also a considerable proportion of the US population who are unconcerned at such atrocities because Palestinians are a bit on the brown side. I don’t know enough about Israeli democracy to comment much about it, but I suspect Jon is correct in that it leaves the US in the shade, as the latter is a complete shitshow.
No doubt big money is involved somewhere but most analysis I’ve read suggest Trump is simply pandering to his support base – which includes, among others: hypocritical Christian evangelists previously discussed; AND more extreme elements of the Jewish lobby; AND racist groups. Ironically (not really, it’s deeply embedded in their DNA) both of the former groups are prepared to completely overlook Trump’s multiple “non-Christian” acts and his numerous endorsements of rw racists and antisemites.
Jon,
I think that the reason so many of the religious have chucked their lot in with such an amoral bastard as Trump is because they can see religion is declining and they want to protect their power and privilege, and their tax-free status.