Paper weight grounding defence jets

Red tape stopping technology transfer in defence industries is keeping planes grounded and delaying helicopter maintenance, Boeing Australia chairman Brendan Nelson says.

The US government’s International Traffic in Arms Regulations are intended to control defence exports, but were affecting defence cooperation, Dr Nelson said at a lunch hosted by Amcham in Perth today.

An elevator for a Boeing P8 Poseidon plane was on an elevator stand for two months waiting to be fixed, he said.

That was despite bolts being available in the next room.

But they could not be moved because of ITAR regulations, Dr Nelson said.

Manuals for helicopter maintenance would be sent from the US to Australia with redactions, even if the details had already been approved by the US Department of Defense.

A further example was a US aircraft grounded that could not be repaired.

“Not one of our people could lay a spanner on it because the building was not licensed under ITAR,” Dr Nelson said.

He said he had lobbied the US government to liberalise the rules, potentially through an executive order by President Joe Biden.

An alternative would be that provisions were assessed case by case.

Dr Nelson also hinted that Boeing had secured an export deal for the Ghost Bat aircraft, which was developed in Australia.

He said Boeing and the Royal Australian Air Force had invested $700 million in developing the product, and it was likely the US federal government would have a provision in next year’s budget.

The aircraft had 80 per cent local content, Dr Nelson said.

More broadly, defence departments needed to collaborate more with industry on technology development and be receptive to research ideas from the private sector.

Former WA governor Kim Beazley told the audience the incoming Labor government would have to look carefully at the defence budget over the next six months, with hard decisions ahead.

That would be needed to cover planned investments including $4.3 billion for Henderson, he said.