By now, Australia is supposed to have almost run out of military aircraft requirements. The wave of competitions that began in the late 1990s is virtually over. Just about every type of aircraft in the Australia Defense Force (ADF) is new or has a chosen replacement, and the main unresolved competition is for basic flight training, including trainer aircraft. But with the government aiming to raise defense spending to 2% of gross domestic product by the early 2020s from 1.6% three years ago, there may yet be room for a few more aircraft requirements. One that has bubbled to the surface has been combat UAVs for the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF), while Northrop Grumman senses a chance of selling its MQ-8C Fire Scout unmanned surveillance helicopter to the Royal Australian Navy (RAN).
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