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THE Australian Government is set to approve the nation’s biggest ever military purchase allowing Defence to order up to 86 American made stealth fighter jets for the Royal Australian Air Force.

The F-35s Joint Strike Fighter will cost about $90 million each when they will be delivered between 2018 and 2020 and the overall project will cost some $14 billion during the 30-year life.The JSF will replace the fleet of ageing F/A-18 Hornet fighter planes and will give the RAAF a major edge over any regional force apart from those allies such as Singapore who will also buy the jet.

The US will purchase 2443 of the fighters including 1763 conventional ‘A’ models for the air force, 360 ‘B’ or vertical landing versions for the US Marine Corps and 360 ‘C’ or carrier models for the US Navy.