The recent announcement by the Defence Minister, Brendan Nelson, that Australia will spend $6 billion to buy 24 Block II Super Hornets to fill a perceived, or self-generated, capability gap raises more questions than it answers.
The Aussies are kinda screwed in this situation because no real replacement for the F-111 was ever built. It was what filled the gap between jets like the B-1, B-2, B-52 and the teen series fighters.