Australia is First Country to Upgrade Fighter Planes with Hi-Tech U.S. Jammers

In a bid to upgrade the Australian Defense Force warplanes, the country’s Defense Minister Stephen Smith announced Thursday that the country will be upgrading half of its warplanes with hi-tech U.S. jammers, becoming the first country outside the U.S. to use the sophisticated system.

The upgrade will cost the country around $1.57 billion, $1.5 billion in Australian dollars. The upgraded warplanes are said to be fit and ready to function by 2018.

Twelve Boeing (News - Alert)-built F/A-18 Super Hornets will be altered to Growlers and have the same capabilities and functions of the fighter planes that immobilized missile and communication systems last year during the no-fly zone air campaign in Libya.

The U.S. carrier-based Growlers were first used in the NATO campaign, with missions to enforce the no-fly zone in Libya, jamming Libya’s systems during air attacks, and providing escort to allies. Its capabilities in electronic warfare are provided and outfitted by Northrop Grunman, an American global aerospace and defense technology company.

"In my view, it's probably one of the biggest strategic increases in the ADF's (Australian Defence Force) capability since we ordered the F-111 (in the late 1960s)," said Air Force Chief Air Marshal, Geoff Brown.

The news of the upgrade comes amid debate and concern by China over Australia hosting 2,500 U.S. Marines in Darwin last year in a bilateral agreement to shore up alliances in Asia. The agreement consists of the deployment of U.S. Marines over five years, the use of Australian bases for U.S. aircrafts, and the plans of increased naval visits to the Indian Ocean.

Australia is one of the closest allies of the United States, and President Barack Obama has set in motion what seems to be a larger strategy aiming to strengthen U.S.’s presence in the Asia-Pacific region.

The move has prompted political analysts to say that Obama’s strategy is a plot to thwart China in its process of becoming a global military and economic power. China has even issued accusations of Obama deliberately increasing military tensions in the region.

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