New Joint Strike Fighters will give Australia the edge, says defence expert.

Australian air defence capabilities are set to soar with the purchase of 58 new, next-generation F-35 Joint Strike Fighters (JSF), says an expert from the ANU College of Asia and the Pacific.

The investment, announced by Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott today and costing a princely sum of A$12 billion, will see the first jets leave the tarmac and hit the skies in 2020, bringing the total number of Australian JSFs to 72.

The new fighters will eventually replace the Royal Australian Air Force’s F-18 Super Hornets and are Australia’s most expensive defence asset.

According to Dr John Blaxland from the Strategic and Defence Studies Centre, the fighters represent good value – despite countries like Canada expressing reservations about their own recent purchase of the JSFs.

“The fact that Singapore, Korea and Japan are all closely looking at the JSF for their future aircraft needs tells us something about how pundits inside the various bureaucracies are viewing this aircraft.

“In other words, they are converts; they are believers.

“And they're are believers because it offers more than anything else offers.

“Australian strategists have long placed emphasis on having a technological edge. This platform will help deliver that edge.”

Dr Blaxland added that the new JSFs were a logical step up from the F18 Super Hornet.

“The Super Hornet is a superb aircraft that can do almost all the things that the JSF is supposed to be able to do. But it lacks the stealth of the JSF.

“There is a saying that quantity has a quality all of its own. So the number of aircraft being purchased is of concern.

“But as is widely understood, the purchase of Super Hornets and the Growler aircraft, when combined with the JSFs, will deliver to Australia unsurpassed capabilities.”