Whether it be a knee-jerk to the former Howardian push for the ethereal JSF, or a pre-emtive strike on probable escalating costs, it looks like the Rudd Labor government is on the right path.

Mind you, the F-22 or a nobbled version thereof, still isn't going to be the replacement we need, but given our choices are limited to Boeing or Lockheed-Martin, a butchered version of the F-22 is still a better bet than a flip of several billion coins into the JSF fountain.