The UK defense secretary, Grant Shapps, recently experienced an exhilarating ride in an Australian air force fighter jet following a meeting with Prime Minister Anthony Albanese.
During his visit to Canberra, Shapps met with Albanese before embarking on a thrilling flight to Adelaide in a FA-18 Super Hornet, as reported by the ABC.
Two of these impressive aircraft, each valued at $100 million, took off from Canberra, with Shapps seated in the back of one of them.
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A spokesperson for the Department of Defense confirmed the flight and emphasized that it was a valuable opportunity to showcase Australia’s defense capabilities to a key ally.
“The flight was part of a demonstration of an important element of Australia’s defense capability to one of our key defense partners,” stated a defense spokesperson.
“As the Royal Air Force does not operate the F/A-18F Super Hornet, it was selected to demonstrate one component of Australia’s air combat capability”.
The trip was a smooth ride compared to an incident that occurred over a week ago when a Royal Air Force plane carrying Shapps from Portugal to the UK had its satellite signal jammed, according to a Reuters report.
Shapps is in Australia for annual Australia-UK ministerial consultations, his first visit since taking on the defense portfolio in a ministerial reshuffle by the British Prime Minister, Rishi Sunak.
On Friday, the Australian government revealed its commitment to bolster the Aukus defense pact by sending $4.6 billion to the UK to clear bottlenecks at the Rolls-Royce nuclear reactor production line.
2024-03-22 23:31:18
Article from www.theguardian.com