The US military is expected to defer the purchase of up to 128 Joint Strike Fighters valued at more than $12billion to 2017 - or even beyond - as part of its $400billion budget cut.
Australian analysts are tipping US Defence Secretary Leon Panetta will make the announcement tonight (Australian time) before the release of the US fiscal 2013 budget proposal on or about February 13.
US President Barack Obama had planned to submit the proposal to Congress on February6 but pushed it back a week to allow time for decisions on spending and technical details. The purchase deferrals, known as ''pushing orders to the right'', are not cancelled sales. The US military will still buy the planes, but later in the production run.
Sources have told The Canberra Times the impact of the deferrals on the JSF program could be mitigated to a large degree by orders from Japan, which has just chosen the JSF over the Eurofighter and the Super Hornet, South Korea which is close to making a decision on its next fighter, and other nations such as Israel.
Any deferrals could also expedite the production of Australian planes by opening up spots on the Lockheed Martin production line.
The Australian acquisition, of up to 100 planes at a cost of more than $10billion, has been strongly backed by Australian military leaders including former Chief of the Defence Force Air Marshal Angus Houston, current chief General Dave Hurley and chief of air force, Air Marshal Geoff Brown.
Australia is committed to 14 of the planes and is due to make a decision on a second buy of 58 planes before the end of this year.
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