Australia Delays Buying F-35 Jets in Push for Budget Surplus

Australia’s Defense Force will delay buying 12 new Lockheed Martin Corp. F-35 Joint Strike Fighters by two years as the Julia Gillard-led Labor government aims to end four years of budget deficits.

The delay will save the government about A$1.6 billion ($1.65 billion) in its 2012-2013 budget, Defense Minister Stephen Smith told reporters in Canberra today. A plan for self-propelled artillery has been scrapped, saving another A$225 million from the budget that will be unveiled May 8, Smith said.