Lockheed Martin F-35 VP Tom Burbage is touring Down Under, and he couldn't have picked a better time. With air power pundit Carlo Kopp and defense-wonk-turned-pol Dennis Jensen clubbing Burbage's baby like a ... well, you know ... in the Australian press, and ministers in Canberra starting to feel skittish about their upcoming $15 billion commitment, Lockheed could use some face time with -- potentially -- one of its first big export customers.
Burbage's visit has already sparked a great report by ABC's Lateline. I'm waiting for the first news reports to appear about Burbage's lecture yesterday at the Royal United Services Institute of Australia.
Kopp and Burbage already appear to be facing off, albeit virtually.
CARLO KOPP, AIR POWER AUSTRALIA: The newer Russian aircraft would be quite capable of shooting down several Joint Strike Fighters for every Sukhoi that gets shot down by Joint Strike Fighter. When you're looking at that type of disparity, you end up basically with an Air Force that is completely combat ineffective.
TOM BURBAGE: It's not true. We're not using Lockheed Martin simulation or analysis, we're using US Air Force models that are very sophisticated. Lockheed Martin uses the same models that the Air Force does and the Air Force does many of these simulations instead of us. So, you know, we're highly confident in the results of these models.
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