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The article reports that autonomous unmanned aerial vehicles are seen by Australian military planners as fundamental to the nation's network-centric, warfighting capabilities beyond 2020. Lockheed Martin Corp. designed Joint Strike Fighters (JSF) in order to field a stealthy, unmanned reconnaissance aircraft. It is expected that the unmanned combat air vehicle would have intelligence-gathering capabilities much like the JSF, which carries an extensive set of sensitive digital receivers for electronic surveillance.

The article informs that Australian defense planners will be buying Lockheed Martin Corp.'s stealthy, long-range Joint Air-to-Surface Standoff Missile (Jassm). The $544,000 Jassm carries 1,000-lb. class penetrator and blast-fragmentation warheads. The missile will have a data link to permit position updates on moving land or sea targets or retargeting after launch. Australian press accounts say the Indonesians will be upset by the decision, and Jakarta has warned that such missiles could set off a regional arms race.